From Kevin
by Sekiseishi
Summary: 1110 AU. Now that Ben's dawned the Omnitrix strange things begin happening, the first, and most notable, being the changes in Kevin. Is it love, or has something happened to the mutant? It Begins should be read first.
1. Chapter 1

**From Kevin, With Love**

Author: Sekiseishi

c. Man of Action

A/N: This takes place after the events in "It Begins." If you haven't read that story first please do so as it will make things less confusing for you. Beta'd by Hi-chan! I love you, Hi-chaaaaaan!!!

Btw: Most of this story was done in cellular and microbiology, so if it has mistakes or some random things that don't look like they belong, please tell me and I'll correct them asap.

Prologue

Red, vibrant and beautiful, painted slowly across the sky, leading into a white and yellow half-sphere on the horizon. Colors of all kinds crept along grey sentinel buildings, quiet and dark in the face of the coming night. The asphalt of the empty parking lot was dotted with spots of age and clumps of grass, the abandoned warehouse in the middle of it seeming like the set-up for some cheesy horror flick and the surrounding office buildings only adding to the scene. It was a typical place for them to stop, a typical place for them to investigate the disappearance of several people and fight off a few DNAliens. It wasn't, however, a typical case. They hadn't stopped because of strange activity, or because there was a blip on Kevin's Plumber's badge. There was, quite literally, nothing around. Empty road and forest stretched for what could have been miles, no civilization or sign of any recent human activity showed anywhere around them. Only a few scattered pieces of sun-bleached garbage fluttered around in the tiny breeze, foil still crinkling after months of disuse. The reason they had stopped in such a desolate place was because Kevin wanted to talk. Kevin didn't just want to talk, he wanted to talk to _Ben_. Gwen was off on vacation with her parents, leaving the two young men to themselves, and of all things they could have been doing talking in front of an abandoned warehouse in the middle of a forest on a road that, quite literally, ended up nowhere about ten miles to the north wasn't one he would have ever imagined. Especially since Kevin went and confessed something that normal Kevin would never confess.

He eyed the other warily, sure it was either a really bad clone, a DNAlien in disguise, or a very, very, _very_ sick Kevin. The taller of the pair looked back, unfazed and completely stern. It almost looked like he was trying to burn a hole in Ben's forehead.

"Psh," a noise that sounded like a balloon letting out air made its way through his lips, followed closely with what could have been a laugh. The sound itself was funny, choked, strained, and annoying.

"C-C'mon, Kevin. You can't be serious," Ben offered a lopsided grin at his colleague, hoping the other would smile back and reassure his suspicions that this whole thing was in horribly morbid jest. "You're the stereotypical tall-dark-and-handsome. The 'bad boy' that every girl desires in every fantasy they've ever had."

"Mr. Stereotypical" let the younger man talk, knowing that he, himself, would get his chance to speak when he affirmed either fear or excitement from the other.

"You work out. You fix cars. You ogle chicks every time you see one that's remotely cute. You pant after Gwen and follow her around like a puppy," arms went up and swung around to emphasize his points and Kevin shifted on his feet, putting his weight on one and folding his arms across his chest. This was probably going to take a while. "Your friends are all evil and horrible, except for me and Gwen. You turn female heads everywhere you go and act on your gut instinct rather than your head more often than not. You have a stack of porn magazines stashed under the back seat that you obviously don't want Gwen to know about. You have a spare tire iron just for bashing in skulls and a pair of bloody pants in your trunk!"

He raised an eyebrow at that. Why the brat was digging around in the trunk of his beloved car was beyond him, but he didn't interrupt, instead lowering the raised brow when Ben paused-

".... You love your car more than anything. You sure as hell haven't shown any interest in other guys unless they have some illegal contraband that you really want," -and sighed a little when the other switched right back into his little tirade. "You drink your coffee black. You beat people up on a regular basis. You don't like sweets, you don't like cute things, you abhor the colors pink and yellow with a _burning_ passion. Anything with breasts is interesting to you. You like football-"

"Baseball," he couldn't help but interject. Football was .... idiotic. Mindless violence.

"Really? I thought you enjoyed the mindless violence."

He shrugged, arms still folded and waited for the brunet to continue.

"But ... besides all that, you love Gwen! You can't tell me that you've been leading her on all this time Mr. "I'll follow you anywhere"," small hands fisted and found purchase on the gentle curve of his hips and Kevin's eyes watched the action, staring openly. The boy really had something going. A small figure, hips that slightly resembled those of a female. Supple skin, big eyes, soft hair. Hell. He even smelled pretty. Kevin was sure that if he put the other in a skirt and sleeveless turtleneck he could even pass for a breast-less chick. A little make-up: dark eyes trailed upwards to look at the pink lips, pouty and kissable, and imagined them in about thirty different shades of lipstick. Meh. They didn't need to be covered by some animal-tested fish scales. Besides, the last thing he wanted was smeared paint on his face and neck and chest and stomach and ... forget the lipstick. Fuck it. Forget the girls clothes, too. He'd make a hot chick, but Kevin wasn't into that. Maybe one day he'd try it, but if he'd wanted to chase a skirt he'd have gone after Gwen's.

His eyes continued up, meeting vibrant green ones and he smiled. Those eyes. So much emotion showed so easily in them. They were righteous, proud, gentle, and ... pissed off.

Broad shoulders shifted as he lowered his arms, stance straightening as he regarded the younger man carefully: "I "love Gwen" is what I think you just said," his voice was low, calm, and he watched in amusement as Ben leaned forward ever-so-slightly to hear what he was saying. "Now, tell me, Oh-mighty-leader, why are you telling me who I love? I don't recall ever swapping that type of information with you."

Ben sighed, one arm wrapping around his small chest while the other rested on top of it, and put a hand to his head. They stood there a moment in silence, Kevin watching a plethora of feelings move across the pretty face as Ben tried to figure out what to say.

A car passed them, a white sedan Kevin noted absently, not taking his eyes off of the other. Probably wondering what a couple of guys are doing in front of an abandoned warehouse at dusk.

He idly wondered if the driver would suspect the worst and call the cops. Not a pleasant scenario, but it would change the monotony of the situation.

"Look, Kevin," the hand moved from the other's forehead to rest against his other arm and Kevin noticed the smaller body shift from it's position. A somewhat defensive stance. The dark-haired young man didn't know whether to be offended or if he should appreciate the view. He couldn't help but imagine the other naked and in that position and turned his head a little to the side, as if trying to get a better view. "I'm not telling you who to or not to love. That's your choice. The only thing I'm worried about is Gwen finding out and being hurt. You've led her on for so long, it's no wonder she didn't already leave you for another guy."

"She already knows," he sounded bored, he knew. He also knew that the tone would have pissed off the other if his statement hadn't been so ... unexpected.

"Wha- What? You told her already," it seemed Ben was pissed anyway. "Oh, God! Poor Gwen! What were you thinking?! She's probably broken to pieces by now. How could you do such a thing? She really liked you and you go and tell her "No thanks, I'm in love with your cousin"?!"

He shrugged again, losing interest in the banter: "I didn't tell her anything. She knew. Women's intuition and all that."

"How the hell did she know," Ben's voice raised in volume, but not enough for Kevin to be alarmed. "You weren't exactly obvious about it! I had no idea! I swear Kevin, it's not like you to act this way. The beam must have affected your inhibitions. You're desperate for attention, so you turned to me because Gwen is on vacation. You want my cousin, not me. You hate me. You've been vying for her attention ever since you joined up with us and I've done nothing but watch you from the sidelines as you tried to get her to date you and then pull away whenever she showed interest. You were nervous, stupid, and utterly infatuated."

Kevin closed the distance between them in half a second, a single finger pressing against Ben's mouth, effectively shutting it. He locked his eyes with the other's, almost glaring, and silently dared the younger to open his mouth.

"Now," Kevin said quietly, "I'm going to remove my finger and you aren't going to say anything. You are going to let me say my peace, give you my reasons, and prove to you that none of this has anything to do with that weapon hitting me. Understood?"

Ben nodded slowly and Kevin removed the appendage from the young man's lips, feeling the slight warmth that was left behind as he took a single step back, giving Ben some room to shift around uneasily.

He took a deep breath, steeling himself in preparation for what he was about to admit.

"Eight years ago, I met a snot-nosed little brat who was on vacation with his grandpa and his cousin. He was strong, full of energy, which was what drew me to him in the first place, but then ... something happened. He was nice to me. It wasn't something I was used to. People hated me. Feared me. Threatened me with weapons of all kinds and told me to leave and never come back. They used me, too. Even then I had things no one else had. Tier four, Tier three, Level five. All illegal technology on Earth. Anything and everything was money to me. The garbage you tossed so carelessly away could be used to fix a broken piece of equipment or to forge something useful. Ben Tennyson, however, saw the world through his naive eyes and believed there was some good in everybody, even the aliens he beat up. He hung out with me, something I'd never really done before ... not with friends at any rate. He dragged me around, showing me all kinds of ridiculous things he found fascinating, laughed with me, played games with me, genuinely _liked_ me," he paused, running a hand through his hair, ignoring the slight shake that moved through his body. "It terrified me, confused me, and for a little while I felt things I'd never felt before. I wanted to stay with him, to be friends and act like a normal kid. Run around the playground, shoving handfuls of sand down Gwen's shirt while he laughed. I didn't realize what I was feeling and freaked out, reasserting myself as evil and malicious as quickly as I was able."

He looked away from the xenomorph, gaze slipping to the left to observe a stray piece of trash.

"When I was in the Null Void ... I had a lot of time to think. I liked you, that much was certain. You had shown me the best time of my entire life, had treated me like a normal kid. For once in my life I felt wanted, and I craved that. It was years before I could put a word to what I was feeling, and it scared me worse than the confusion you planted in my mind. It wasn't an emotion that I was familiar with. It hurt so much, and felt so good," he met the other's gaze yet again, waiting until the smaller body stilled before continuing. "It was love. It still is, only, in our time together, it's been given the chance to grow and expand. Now that we're older it's manifesting itself as desire and lust and the fantasies ... ," Ben was becoming somewhat uncomfortable, suddenly finding his shoes extremely interesting, and Kevin stopped the sentence, letting it hang over the other's head like a weight. "In layman's terms: I love you, and believe what you want, but this started long before that stupid beam hit me."

He was silent, scuffing the ground with his toe as his brain digested the information he just received. To be perfectly honest, he had no problem with Kevin, or gays. He didn't mind that a gay guy liked him and wanted to be 'more than friends'. What bothered him was that it was _Kevin_ that liked him. Kevin. Of all people. What made it even worse was that Gwen knew, even through all the merciless flirting and teasing she did with the dark-haired young man, and hadn't even given him a hint. It wasn't like he thought Kevin was being obvious about his sexuality. Just the opposite, in fact. He had been so sure that Kevin liked girls that he'd ...

"Ben," Kevin's deep, quiet voice brought him out of his reverie and he looked up, a semi-intelligent "Huh" escaping his mouth. "You didn't answer me."

Had he asked something? Ben couldn't be too sure. He'd been thinking a little too loudly after Kevin's ... story ... came to a close. He thought hard for a moment, trying to figure out whether Kevin had really asked a question, or if he'd simply implied one. Knowing the ex-con as well as he did, which wasn't as well as he would have liked, led him to believe the latter had happened.

"Generally, you get an answer only when you ask a question," he meandered over to Kevin's car and leaned against it, watching the taller with a somewhat smug look on his face. "So, ask away."

Kevin looked like he swallowed something not-too-tasty and turned to face his companion: "You weren't listening to me, were you."

"Of course I was," Ben pushed away from the vehicle, huffing indignantly. "You just never asked an outright question."

"I asked with my eyes. If you paid attention, you would have seen it."

Ben was fairly certain that the beam had affected Kevin in _some_ way. Even for the brutish older teen that was kind of a dumb statement.

"I don't speak eye," he dead panned, nonplused.

The familiar figure of his long-time friend neared, menacing vibes practically pulsing from the hulking figure. For the first time in a long time, Ben was afraid of Kevin, and he felt himself shrink as the taller youth towered over him. He stood there, hunched and peeking up through his eyelashes, throat too dry to even swallow, sure he was going to be pummeled to a twitching, bloody pulp. When Kevin moved, he flinched, instinct telling him to close his eyes against the barrage that was sure to come. When nothing happened, he hesitantly cracked on eye open, the other following suit as he realized that the older teen was no longer looming above him. He looked down, surprised to find the brunet on one knee and limply allowed his left hand to be pulled forward.

"I love you, Ben Tennyson," the older began, pausing. Ben saw the bobbing motion of Kevin's Adam's Apple and figured he must've been nervous about what he was about to ask. "And ... I want to know if you would ...," another pause, no doubt he was searching for words, the right thing to say, "if you would consider going out with me."

He pursed his lips, voice failing him for a moment: "Consider. ... Yes. I'll consider it," he said, clearer than he thought he was able, and felt something inside him flip around excitedly. He bit his tongue, trying to keep the huge goofy grin from spreading across his face as Kevin looked up at him with widened eyes.

"Damn," the other grumbled, standing. "Should've reworded that better."

A chuckle presented itself and he could no longer keep the smile from his features. He felt giddy, schoolgirlish and tingly. He shoved his hands deep in his pant's pockets to keep from twiddling them in front of him and planted his feet firmly on the ground, feeling like he would bounce or wiggle too much in he didn't.

An evil grin split Kevin's face eerily wide. His teeth gleamed in the fading light: "It looks to me like you've given me more than an "I'll think about it", babe."

The smaller chewed at his bottom lip a little and rocked his body up on the balls of his feet before letting it settle back on his heels: "Shouldn't we be going," he inquired innocently. He didn't want to give a straight answer just yet, still somewhat unsure of his feelings. Besides, he still had to talk to Gwen about the whole situation to figure out how she felt about it.

"Yeah, yeah," Kevin dug in his pocket and fished out his keys, jangling them in two fingers for a moment before enclosing them in his fist. "We can go back to my place and hang out. Unless you have other plans."

Ben shook his head, a little part of him hoping that once they got there they could have a make-out sessi- he derailed that train, killing everybody on board. Of course they couldn't just go and make-out! Ben hadn't given a definitive answer, and he would be damned if he jumped straight into something he 1: had no idea about, and 2: wasn't sure he was ready for. Wanting it obviously wasn't the problem, but he had no idea what he was getting himself into. What would his parents think? What about Gwen? Was Kevin serious? Ben had seen him 'go out' with plenty of girls and leave them broken-hearted and crying their eyes out within a matter of weeks. It would be best to continuously test the waters, see how much he could get away with and how long Kevin would keep after him. It was the worst thing he could imagine, but better than being torn apart because he moved too fast, and he realized he would have to do the one thing to Kevin that he hated most.

Ben Tennyson would have to lead Kevin on.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: First of all, I'd like to thank my reviewers (granted, not as many as I'd like, but I'll continue it for you guys all the same): B42-BT and Random Girl! Thanks, guys! And thanks to all of you who fav'd/watch'd this story. I hope I'm living up to your expectations.

And, of course, I'd like to thank Hi-chan, my beloved beta-reader whom I love so so so so _so_ much!! 3

Chapter 1

The morning sky was grey, the sun barely able to peek through the heavy cloud cover that blanketed the Earth below. Bright light tried futilely to push the dark things away, to shine down on the sun-starved plants beneath the quickly blackening comforter, but gave up mere moments later, finally choked out by the foreboding storm.

Ben stared at the war through the window of Kevin's Camaro, heading down the road at a steady pace of ... forty? Fifty? ... he had no idea. Boredom set in long before the sun even decided it was time to wake the sleepy community, he and Gwen giving up on car-games hours ago.

They'd been driving since nine the night before, Gwen curling up on the back seat and falling fast asleep, while he remained uncomfortable and silent, unable to turn over in his upright position, but not wanting to put the seat back for fear of crushing his cousin. So, for the past six hours, he and Kevin sat in silence, watching the moon drift across the sky, setting just as the storm clouds appeared and the sun woke up. A splatter of water hit the windshield, followed by two more. Ben ignored it and rested his tired head on his fist, elbow sticking to the vinyl of the car door.

"You're being awfully quiet," Kevin's voice sounded tired, and Ben looked at the other. Neither had slept for the past twenty-or-so hours, tirelessly chasing DNAliens for the past four days. Or so he liked to think. In reality, they had been given false information by one of Kevin's many "insiders" and got lost on their way back. Eight and a half hours ago, they left a one-horse town with a full tank of gas. Now, they were puttering on less than a quarter of a tank headed for some rinky-dink, two-person-population town that Kevin happened to find on the map. He didn't remember the name, but the clerk at the register said the place had a gas station, and that was all that mattered. It was the closest town to ... wherever they were, they still didn't know, and Ben was willing to bet that it was another eight-hundred miles to the next station. Luckily for them, Kevin didn't like SUVs, or they'd have been stuck on the road a long time before.

He shrugged at the other, eyeing the dashboard and wondering if there was something interesting in there to keep him occupied until they reached the gas station: "I didn't want to distract you."

Kevin smirked: "You always distract me. You're just that hot."

Ben felt himself blush at the statement and glanced at the back seat, making sure Gwen hadn't heard that.

"She's still asleep, babe," Kevin murmured, not taking his eyes off the empty road. "You should try and get some shut-eye, too. You're starting to look frumpy."

""Frumpy"," the brunet raised an eyebrow at that, giving Kevin a once-over and slumped back in his seat. "Like you have room to talk. When was the last time you went to sleep? Surely you've been awake just as long as I have, if not longer."

"Relax, babe," an intermittent clicking noise brought Ben's eyes back to the road ahead, and he realized Kevin was turning onto a little side street. Another splatter of rain dropped on the windshield in front of his face and was proceeded by a fine spray of what could have passed for mist. "I'm used to being up for long hours. You aren't."

He wanted to argue that Kevin didn't know anything about what he was used to, that he didn't need to sleep as much as the other thought he did, but he shut his eyes against the words, turning them back and sending them to a corner of his mind for time-out. The last thing he wanted was to start an argument with the guy he liked, especially since he had yet to give him a straight answer.

It had been about twenty days since Kevin confessed his feelings, and although they'd shared a small kiss here and there, he still wasn't sure if he wanted what the older was offering. He'd spoken to Gwen about it, and she reaffirmed Kevin's statement that she knew and had known for quite some time. She also said that she thought his belief that the weapon Kevin had been hit with caused some sort of brain malfunction was ridiculous and impossible. Beams that affected a person's emotions and thoughts that extensively didn't exist, and if they did, the DNAliens wouldn't be using them.

"I'll sleep if we can find a hotel in this next place, and only if you promise to rest, too," he crossed his arms defiantly. "If not, then I'm going to stay awake. Your car's uncomfortable, anyway."

Kevin chuckled at that, reaching a hand over to gently grab Ben's upper arm and tug him over. The younger put a hand on the emergency brake, pushing on it to bring himself closer to the dark-haired young man next to him. Their lips met in a chaste kiss, Ben ending it quickly so he wouldn't keep Kevin's eyes from the road for too long, lest they crash. "It's a deal," Kevin said, rubbing his partner's shoulder a little. "But, you and I have to share a room. I don't carry all that much cash on me, and I don't really want Gwen to sleep in the same room as you and me."

It made sense. Gwen was a girl, after all. She didn't need to see two guys running around in boxers, and she certainly didn't need the image of them sleeping, probably in the same bed if Kevin had anything to say about it.

"The feeling's mutual," Gwen's voice came from the back and Ben pushed himself back to his own seat, Kevin's hand moving back to the steering wheel. Ben looked back at his cousin, unsure of how much she saw or how much it affected her. She sat up gracefully, pulling her hair back easily into a flawless pony-tail in a matter of seconds. It was amazing what his cousin could do. She hadn't even brushed her hair, that he heard, and it looked like a hair-stylist had put her hair back. How she got it so perfect was beyond him and he smiled at her, impressed.

"Kevin said we can get a hotel at the next town, if they have one," he looked back at the road, a distant, squat building heralding the approach of the tiny dot on the map.

"Yeah, _after_ the car gets gassed up," Kevin said, pushing a little harder on the gas. "I don't think I want to rest and then forget to get anything for my ride."

"Breaking down in the middle of nowhere is not conducive to good team morale," Ben said, matter-of-fact and laughed a little as Kevin playfully punched his arm.

"If I find a bruise on my cousin, Levin, I'll kill you," Gwen's tone was serious, but a look back proved that she was only half so. She smiled evilly at Kevin as he looked through the rearview mirror at her: "I'm serious."

"Don't worry, Gwen," the older teen leered at Ben. "I'll only hurt him if he asks for it."

The xenomorph blushed furiously, averting his gaze back to the windshield as the mist became a heavy rain, his cousin giggling lightly behind him.

-

It was another fifteen minutes before they reached the town and found a gas station. Fortunately, the pump worked; unfortunately, no one seemed to be around to accept the money Kevin was actually putting out.

"The one time I decide to pay and no one's here to take my money," he grumbled, ringing the bell on the counter again. Outside, the storm raged angrily, wind whipping through the town and billowing rain from the streets in a fine spray, giving the illusion of smoke. Ben looked out the window worriedly. No one was in the town, and a bad storm was starting up ... it sounded like the makings of a horror movie to him. Either that, or the town had evacuated on account of the bad weather. He almost hoped for the horror movie option, ready to take aliens on any day of the week rather than a tornado. Gwen sat out in the car, and he could barely see her looking towards them through the sheets of rain. "C'mon," Kevin's angry voice drew him back to the other. "Where is everyone.?"

"Kevin," Ben fiddled with the hem of his shirt nervously, looking around the bright store. "I don't think anyone's here, so let's go. We'll come back after the storm and pay," he reached over and tugged lightly on Kevin's jacket when the other simply glared at the bell. "It's getting bad and we should find some _warm_ shelter."

The older sighed and turned, grabbing the hand that was on his jacket and held it, weaving his fingers together with Ben's: "You're right. Let's go."

He pulled the smaller behind him, running as soon as he opened the door, trying to keep the two of them from getting anymore wet than necessary. He ducked into the driver's side, letting go of the younger's hand as Ben ran around the car to get to his side. Of course, the rain was so bad that running made no difference. He was already completely soaked through, and he winced as he opened the door and sat down, feeling more than hearing the squelch of wet jeans and shoes as he settled in his seat. The door closed and Kevin drove off, all three pairs of eyes peeled for a hotel.

There was no hotel, but a very run-down motel that ran about fifteen bucks a room per night. The place reeked like sweat and dirty laundry and the lobby was like a freezer. The old linoleum floors looked like they hadn't been replaced in nearly a decade, and the floral wallpaper was smudged and peeling in places. Much like the gas station, there was no one at the desk and Kevin groaned, looking at the other two a moment and taking in their pitiful, drenched and shivering forms, before jumping the counter and grabbing two keys.

"First floor, right next to each other," he said, tossing one to Gwen and shoving the other in his pocket. "If they come back before we leave, we'll pay. If not, we're outta here."

Ben shivered, rubbing his arms almost desperately as he inched closer to Gwen. She huddled next to him as Kevin rummaged around the desk, no doubt looking for something useful, like information on where the people would be-

"I found the key to the closet. Extra blankets might come in handy," he grinned at the pair and the trio walked out of the lobby towards their respective rooms. It was a good thing that Kevin picked two rooms on the first floor. Ben didn't think he had the energy to walk up any stairs, and Gwen looked like she was going to kill everybody if she didn't get a warm shower very soon.

"I have a bad feeling about this, guys," she said, eyes shifting about the hallway. "There's no one here, and the storm is only getting worse. Either they evacuated or there are aliens involved in this."

"That's why I wanna get out of here," Kevin said, unlocking his door. "Ben and I need to rest, but we'll be right here if you need anything. I'd suggest waking us up if you so much as hear a funny noise."

He entered the room and Ben nodded at his cousin as she wandered off to her own room next door before following him in. Kevin waited until Gwen's door was shut and locked before doing the same to their own barrier against the eerily still motel. Turning to inspect their small room, he flipped on the light and was pleased to see Ben eagerly shedding his wet clothes ... he tilted his head to the side ... all of his wet clothes. Goose bumps littered the pale flesh of the other and Kevin realized he was shivering violently. He reached to his right, not taking his eyes off the other, and turned on the heat, wincing at the choking sound the heater made as it tried to kick on.

Ben turned at the noise, blushing when he noticed Kevin watching him intently. Their eyes met and the older teen smiled a little too widely before quickly undressing himself.

"Do you ... want to shower first," Ben asked, opting to stare at the dying heater rather than Kevin's sexy naked body.

He noticed Kevin absorb the metal of the air conditioner out of the corner of his eye and he turned, face burning hot as he noticed that _everything_ turned metal. Not that he didn't know before, he just never thought about the other's ... unmentionables become hard as steel- he shook his head, destroying yet another train before it got too far from the station.

"Nah," Kevin dropped the silvery coating, emerging completely dry. "I'm good. You go first."

"And here I thought you would want to shower with me," Ben slapped a hand over his traitorous mouth, cursing himself for giving the older ideas. Kevin's smile grew even wider and the smaller lowered his hand, turning away as he remembered that he was completely naked.

"Now that's an idea. Let's go with that. That way, we'll both be warm and we won't waste all the hot water," he sauntered over to the younger, arms wrapping around the shivering waist as he buried his face in the icy neck, still wet from the rain. "I can think of a few ways to get you warmer quicker, too," he whispered, voice husky and thick with desire. The shiver increased momentarily and he couldn't resist kissing the exposed flesh, open-mouthed, his tongue darting out to taste the rain that lay there.

Ben bit his lip, preventing the moan from completely forming, and rested his arms on Kevin's. There were several things he wanted to do at that moment. Making-out was one of them. Messing around was another. The most prominent thing that stood out in his mind, however, was taking a nice, warm shower with the young man behind him. He figured Kevin deserved it, seeing as how Ben was still "leading him on" and all that.

His teeth let go of his lip and he nodded, turning around in Kevin's arms: "Yeah. Let's go with that."

He walked backwards, grabbing Kevin's hands as he went and pulling the taller along. Kevin was amused, turned on, but keeping his body in control. The last thing he wanted to do was give Ben second thoughts and ruin this potentially ... passionate evening. He followed quietly, snorting as Ben nearly tripped over the mat in front of the sink, taking the opportunity to walk past the other and into the bathroom. The shower was tiny, barely enough room for an adult male, let alone two. Kevin was intent on making it work, however, and dragged Ben in, locking the door behind him. They regarded the small tub momentarily, weighing their options, Kevin thinking more of the various positions they could be in while showering ... for their own comfort, of course. It wasn't like they could _do_ anything anyway. They were is a strange town under strange circumstances, and if Gwen was attacked they'd have a harder time trying to fight any aliens naked and horny. If the two of them were attacked ... well, that would probably just be amusing.

"Let's do this," he said, a little too excitedly. Ben wiggled around him, narrowly avoiding the too-low toilet, and stepped into the shower-tub hybrid, turning on the tap without a second thought. Surprisingly, the shower spewed hot water and Kevin frowned, suddenly worried. "Wait. If the water's hot, doesn't that mean somebody just used this same shower not too long ago."

"No," Ben tugged Kevin in after him and turned on the spray. "When it's about to rain, the hot water gets pushed up in the pipes and comes out first. It's probably been building up, so we'll have a few minutes of it before the cold water comes through."

Kevin grabbed the tiny bottle of shampoo from its nest on the back of the toilet and dumped some on the brown head in front of him, closing the shower curtain as he did so. He could see the confusion in Ben's eyes and shrugged: "Having someone else do it'll help you relax. This way, you don't have to expend any unnecessary energy and you'll fall asleep easier."

The smaller brunet sighed, obediently turning around as Kevin instructed him to do so, secretly enjoying the attention on his scalp. He fairly melted into the massage, the thick streams of water spewing out from their calcium-clogged prison temporarily forgotten as the taller worked out the day's tension through his own special therapy. He smiled a little, closing his eyes and tilted his head up, feeling shampoo bubbles tickle down his face. The rubbing stopped for a few moments, a cold plop landing suddenly on his head. He jumped, not expecting the sensation, but relaxed when Kevin's fingers returned to their earlier ministrations.

Ten minutes later, Ben refused two attempts of Kevin washing his body, quickly scrubbing it down himself as the hot water slowly cooled, then handed the bottle of soap to Kevin, grinning when the taller asked to be pampered a little. He was refused and Ben rinsed himself and hopped out of the shower, taking the lone towel from the bar on the wall.

He rubbed his head dry and patted down his body, grumbling when he realized he'd left his wet clothes in a heap on the floor. He picked them up, nearly slipping on the cold puddle of water that was left behind, and laid them on the cheap wooden table next to the heater. He did the same with Kevin's after a few moments thought, feeling the familiar blush threaten to burn across his cheeks again as he picked up the older teen's boxers. He laid them over a chair quickly, the table full of the rest of their clothes, and walked to the bed, the chilly linoleum floor sending shivers up and down his body. He sat down, listening to the shower continue in the background as the heater rumbled sickly by the door, barely giving off enough heat to keep the room above freezing.

He scrubbed a little more furiously at his hair, trying to get it dry before he got sick.

Kevin remained in the shower another ten minutes and Ben began to worry. Surely the water had gone ice cold by then and the other was probably contracting hypothermia. The water stopped just as the thought manifested itself and the young man sighed audibly in relief. In such a run-down motel, Ben hadn't noticed there was no television in his room until he went to reach for the nonexistent remote. He looked around, surprised to find no radio or alarm either. Maybe there was one in the lobby. He'd been wanting to check whether the town had evacuated for some time, although he was beginning to suspect otherwise. The business doors were open and all the lights were on, indicating either everyone left in a hurry, or something ominous happened just before they arrived. It was then he realized he was hungry, too. They hadn't eaten breakfast and, he cast a quick glance at his pocket watch, it was already past noon. It didn't feel like they'd been in the town for hours, but apparently they had been. A little over six hours, to be exact. Something wasn't right.

He removed the towel from his hair and wrapped it around his waist, for once glad that he was so small. Even the tiny motel towel fit around him.

"I'm going to go check out the lobby again," he called to Kevin, who, apparently, was idling around in the bathroom. "I wanna find some food and see if there's something on the news."

"I should go with you," Kevin's voice was muffled and Ben thought about the proposition. The towel barely fit him as it was. Kevin's would show off his hip and half his ass if he wore it.

"Nah. You stay here," he yelled back. "If there's anyone out there, I don't want you to scare them with your butt cheek hanging out."

There was a loud indignant noise and Ben laughed, leaving the room and entering the hallway.

The door shut behind him loudly and he looked around as it echoed down the hall. He could barely see the end of it to his left, the lights seeming to have dimmed since they arrived, and the lobby to his right was ... dark. He headed towards the entrance to the motel, a little freaked and half-hoping Kevin would appear behind him. Or Gwen. She could make light with her powers and then they would be able to see into the darkness. Unfortunately, he didn't feel like bothering his cousin while wearing only a towel, and just because he was scared of the dark. He had ten aliens at his disposal. If something happened he could just get himself out of trouble and demolish the entire town if deemed necessary. He hoped that wouldn't be the case.

The lobby was relatively close to their rooms, but as he inched along, he could swear the hallway was getting longer and darker. All the horror movies he'd watched in his life suddenly came at him. Zombies. Monsters. Killers. Ghosts. And, yes, evil, creepy aliens who didn't communicate except to tell you that you were going to be dinner. He paused, breath catching in his throat as his heart beat faster. Surely, any monster that was in the impermeable darkness could hear him. Surely it was just sitting there, around the corner, waiting for him to peek his head around ... the lights in the lobby flickered to life just before he stepped into it and he jumped. Power surge? Was the lobby's power separate from the rooms? Probably, very likely. Maybe someone had turned them on. He looked around the corner, keeping most of his body in the hallway, and shivered at the air conditioning as it blasted on him. No one.

He walked to the desk and looked around: "Hello?" He winced at the loud echo that followed, shivering as his bare feet slapped softly against the dirty-looking floor. He almost regretted coming out of the room, positive he would have to wash his feet of grime when he got back. His stomach growled at him, however, and he clutched it, trying to get it to be quiet. There had to be a kitchen somewhere, or at least an area with fruit or snacks that would tie them off until they left the horrible little town. He passed the counter, heading towards an 'Employee Only' door. Trying the handle, he discovered it was locked.

"Figures. The one thing that's locked is probably the one place with food in here," he spared a glance outside, noting the very angry turn the storm took while they showered. It was a miracle that the power even remained on in such weather, but he didn't curse his luck. He went back to the desk and looked through the drawers, hoping to find a key to the locked room. Instead, he found a bunch of paper clips, a few pencils, rubber bands, a stapler, a pair of scissors, and a remote control. He looked up, eyes catching sight of the small television in the corner of the lobby and pushed the power button on the controller. It flickered on tiredly, a loud hum coming from it followed by the sound of static. The picture turned from black to snow and he changed the channel. More snow. Again. More snow. He tried a few more channels before turning the television off, aggravated. He tossed the remote back into the drawer and shut it, freezing as the lights shut off around him.

The hair prickled on the back of his neck and he stood still a few moments, waiting for his eyes to adjust. Lightning struck outside, followed by loud thunder and he barely heard a rustling sound behind him. He swallowed, nearly dropping his towel as his fingers went numb. He was scared. Terrified, and half-frozen. He willed his legs to move as the rustling increased in volume, undoubtedly getting closer, but to no avail.

There was a creak from the hallway, loud and enough to make his legs move, strangely enough at a rather calm, slow pace, towards the rooms. The creak repeated itself and he hesitated to look around the corner, only imagining what horror was sniffing around, opening doors and looking for the only three sacks of flesh in the area. His legs moved a little stiffly and the rustling continued behind him, low to the ground and hissing across the linoleum. He nearly fainted as a figure appeared suddenly in the hallway entrance, but relaxed as a familiar purple glow chased the darkness away.

"Ben," the red-head stood there, wearing nothing more than a towel around her thin figure. It barely covered what was important, but Ben didn't notice, heading for her as the hissing continued.

"Gwen there's something here," he said as the sound got closer. Gwen lowered her light towards it and Ben jumped, ready to activate the Omnitrix as something brushed past his leg.

"A plastic bag," she said, unimpressed. "You're freaking out because of a plastic bag."

"It sounded like," he looked at it, bewildered, then around the strangely-lit lobby. "I could've sworn ..."

Gwen sighed, taking her cousin's ice-cold arm and frowned: "You're tired. You're freezing. I'm taking you back to your room so you can rest and I can yell at Kevin for letting you come out here looking like this. C'mon."

She dragged him behind her, heading for their rooms.

"What about that creaking coming from the hallway," he inquired. "Your door didn't make that sound, and neither did ours."

She didn't stop, instead knocking harshly on his shared room. Kevin opened the door, took one look at the pair, and dragged them both in.

Gwen turned on him, releasing Ben's arm as she did so: "You let him go out there by himself? It's freezing, it's pitch black, and there could have been aliens out there! What were you thinking?"

Kevin crossed his arms disinterestedly, looking Ben up and down. Shaken, but unharmed: "There's nothing here, Gwen. No humans. No aliens. No nothing. Just some garbage floating around, that's all. If there were aliens, you think we'd've seen them by now, coming at our throats. They don't like to wait when there's prey involved."

"And maybe they're waiting until we do something. Maybe they want us to think we're safe so we'll let our guard down," she countered. "Ben was alone out there! Half-naked and freezing! What are you going to do if he gets sick?!"

The taller swiped his arms out in a move meant to encompass the room: "It's not much better in here, Gwen! And what were you doing out there in your tiny motel towel? That thing covers less of you than it does Ben! You're damn near falling out of that thing. And you're telling me not to let Ben get sick? You're the one who's going to get sick."

She sighed, gripping the bridge of her nose delicately with two fingers: "You know, sometimes you can be so dense. You and I aren't wet anymore. Ben still is. He's the one who's at a higher risk of illness than we are. And letting him go barefoot?! Jeez, Kevin, sometimes I wonder about you."

Kevin glanced at Ben's feet, frowning when he saw the red toes.

"Look, it's obviously not safe here, so let's get some rest and get out of here quickly," Gwen opened the door to the dim hallway, looking over her shoulder as she spoke. "I'll wake you both up in about eight hours. Set your alarms in case something happens and I don't. And, for the love of a higher being, Kevin, get Ben warmed up."

With that she shut the door and the pair looked at it for a few minutes, half wondering if that had been an alien and half wondering if she'd been serious.

"So," Kevin started, turning when he heard Ben plop backwards on the bed. The towel came undone and lay uselessly beneath the small figure. A predatory grin dawned the dark-haired teen's face and he climbed on top of the other. "Get you warmed up. That's what your cousin wants me to do. You wanna go for cuddly or full out romp?"

"When we get out of this town, and you take me to a _nice_ hotel, I'll give you my answer," Ben grumbled, pulling Kevin down. "For now, you'll make a better heater than that sad, choking thing over there."

Kevin glared over his shoulder at the sputtering heater and the machine paused as though it was deterred. Turning his attention back to the small teen beneath him he noticed something else: "You're tense. Maybe you should've stayed in here and let me help you relax."

Ben was quiet for a moment, sitting up suddenly to kiss the lips above him: "I know what I can do to relax. Get on your stomach."

-

Nearly an hour later found Kevin sound asleep, Ben lying wide awake at his side, idly trailing his fingers up and down the other's bare back. He'd given Kevin a massage, if only to repay him for the one he received in the shower, and was rewarded with a deeply sleeping driver minutes later. The ceiling light remained on, Ben too nervous to take comfort in the dark, and he lay facing the bathroom, eyeing the door that closed off the blackened little room. Maybe he should turn that light on, too. He decided against it, though, unwilling to leave the warmth of the comforter and Kevin's body just to assuage his fears. Besides, then he would be facing the door to the hallway, and he didn't want to imagine anything coming through there. The storm continued raging outside, thunder occasionally breaking the monotony of rain and the old heater. He ignored it, unable to see outside due to the lack of windows, and shut his eyes against the glaring light. Kevin's even breathing next to him was comforting, and his hand stopped trailing down the surprisingly soft skin, instead he reached over, clutching at the other to bring him closer and hid his face in a warm shoulder. The taller groaned a little, moving to turn onto his side and two strong arms brought Ben's face to an even warmer chest. The younger relaxed, feeling the unease slip away in the protective embrace. He was asleep in a matter of minutes.

-

Seven hours passed and a knock sounded at their door. Kevin grumbled and stood, unheeding of his nudity, and swung the door open, leaving a naked Ben blinking owlishly at the lights, still on, and the loss of warmth. He was still tired and barely made out Gwen's angry voice as she reprimanded his boyfriend for answering the door stark naked. He smiled at the thought and imagined Gwen's face, redder than her hair with anger and embarrassment at the older teen's shameless behavior. It was a moment before he realized that he was naked as well and he quickly bundled up the blankets around himself, opting to remain seated on the bed rather than stand and greet his cousin.

She left barely a minute later, allowing the two to get dressed in relative peace and Kevin shut the door, turning to regard his equally naked interest hiding his body underneath the covers.

"How do you feel, babe," he inquired, moving forward to put the back of his hand to the smaller's forehead. "You don't have a fever."

"I feel fine, Kevin," Ben sighed and stood, walking over to their clothes to see if they were dry. He picked up his shirt and made a face. It was dry, but they all smelled funny. Bad funny. It shouldn't have come as a surprise, considering they hadn't had clean clothes in a few days, and Ben sincerely hoped that this messed up road trip was almost over. "Ugh. Please tell me you know where we are."

"Nope," Kevin appeared behind him, undeterred by the odd smell, and slipped on his boxers "And, by the sound of it, the storm's still going strong."

The brunet slumped, pulling on his own boxers as well: "then we're just going to be wet by the time we get to your car."

The other shrugged, dressing fairly quickly before turning to absorb the metal from the heater: "Not me. Maybe Gwen'll keep you dry this time. Her power can act like an umbrella, can't it?"

Ben tackled the other, still in only his boxers, and kissed the steel lips: "I don't know whether I want to get out of here or screw you to the wall first," he mumbled, not sure what he was thinking. "I know I've been an ass lately, and I still haven't given you an answer, but I promise you that once we get out of here we can do what I said we would last night."

Kevin was pleasantly surprised, scooping up the smaller and making the kiss firmer as he dropped the protection once more: "I like the last idea better. Unfortunately," he kissed him again, "I want to get out of here, too."

Someone banged on the door and Gwen's angry voice sounded from the hallway: "Hurry up, you two! It's creepy out here!"

The two grinned at each other and Kevin let go of the small hero, watching him as he finished dressing.

-

The lobby lights had been off again, but Gwen's power allowed them enough light to see. They left the hotel fairly quickly, Kevin tossing a twenty and a ten on the counter before they ran out into the rain. Luckily, Gwen used her power as an umbrella, much like Kevin suggested before, and she was able to keep herself and Ben mostly dry as they made it to the car. Kevin covered himself in metal, smiling at Ben smugly as the water ran off easily, and hopped into the driver's side.

Back to his normal self and completely dry, much to Ben and Gwen's chagrin, Kevin started his precious ride and they took off, leaving the creepy little town behind.

Gwen made a face as she took off her shoes, hesitantly taking off her tights as well: "Ugh. I think there's more than water in these," she griped, setting her poor shoes aside. "Ben, you might want to take off yours as well. Dry your feet off."

Ben was already barefoot and had his toes practically sticking in the plastic vent that blew hot air on his cold feet: "Ah. Gimme a few minutes and I'll switch seats with you, Gwen," he said, not turning around. Kevin was silent beside him, pressing buttons on the radio which emitted nothing but silence. Gwen's face appeared between their seats, a distinct frown on her face.

"That's odd," she commented. "There should be at least some residual sound from other radio towers. It wouldn't be clear, but it should definitely be there."

"I think there are aliens involved in this," Kevin said, shutting off the radio and turning his attention back to the slick road. "And there's no sign of an ending to this storm. If anything it's getting more powerful as the hours go by."

"If there was a weather machine the clouds would be spiraling, but they're not," the red-headed young woman sat back in her seat and looked out her windows. "It looks like a normal thunderstorm."

"More like a hurricane," Ben said, eyeing the bruised horizon wearily. "Maybe all the people are in shelters. I doubt it's a hurricane this far inland, but it could be a tornado. Those happen relatively quickly, right?"

Gwen seemed to relax a little bit: "Yeah. They do. The people probably didn't think they had time to lock everything up, so they just left."

"And there's definitely enough wind."

"The sky's the right color, too."

"But the power didn't go out," Kevin interrupted, gripping the steering wheel tighter. "The wind never spiked, the sounds weren't right, there was no tornado. No. Something else is going on here and we need to find out what before it escalates into something bigger."

The cousins were silent and Ben felt himself tense, remembering the helplessness he felt in the pitch black of the lobby. In the presence of the unknown, when he was unable to see, his sight that he relied on most of all, he was useless. He knew Kevin was right, but the face of uncertainty was scary and ugly and he wasn't sure he wanted to face it again.

A/N: A nice long chapter for you guys to munch on while I finish some more. Review, please! Gimme feedback! I'm needy!!!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Yay for chapter two! Although I didn't get all that many reviews -is somewhat disappointed- I'm grateful to all of you who did! -loves- Much thanks to Ritornello, whiteinu1, Minty Chinchilla, Midesko and Quimbelork (two authors whose work I love!!). This chapter's for you!!!

Chapter 2

According to the map they were six miles from the next town and twelve from the last one. It was still another twenty minute drive and Ben sighed, folding up the map as best he could before shoving it unceremoniously into the glove compartment, turning off the flashlight almost as an afterthought. The storm had yet to let up on it's relentless assault and the trio appeared to be the only people on the road. It was eery and driving at nine o'clock at night was bad enough without the cloud cover.

Gwen sat quietly in the back, flipping the pages of one of the books she brought with her, no doubt unable to read so much as a single sentence. They'd attempted to alleviate their boredom by switching on the interior light in the car, but Kevin flipped it back off, mumbling that he couldn't see with it on and the cousins left it at that. Ben rummaged through the glove compartment afterwards and discovered the road map Kevin 'purchased' a few towns back and a flashlight. He'd been entertaining himself with the map while keeping the light from the driver's eyes for the past half-hour or so. Not once had Gwen asked for the flashlight and he figured if his cousin really wanted to read she would have just made her own light. As it was, she was just bored and pretending to read was probably just as good to her as actually reading. She probably had whatever book she brought along memorized, anyway.

He shifted in his seat, the heater still on his feet and glanced back at her. She offered no sign that she was even paying attention to anything besides the book in her hands and he looked back out his own window. She'd warmed her feet up after they entered the car, having switched spots with him for a few minutes, but gracefully crawled back to her original spot, ushering Ben back to the front seat so she could stretch out. She'd refused any and all invitations to get warm in Ben's seat again, so he left her alone for the most part.

Kevin simply drove quietly, not attempting to strike up any conversation or even commenting on the silence of the other two occupants. It was weird and uncomfortable and Ben felt himself fidgeting in place more often than not. He didn't feel at ease doing anything in Kevin's car, familiar worry at being yelled at for touching something he wasn't supposed to seeping through his every pore. Goosebumps covered his arms and he desperately tried to banish those thoughts from his mind. He'd known Kevin as a 'good guy' for three years and he knew what he could and couldn't touch. He also knew that he wasn't doing anything wrong ...

"Bubonic plague."

"Catatonia."

"Disease."

"... I don't think that counts, Kevin. Embolism."

"Yeah? Well, whatever. F ... I don't think I know one for f."

"Of course you don't. Gall."

"Gall? What's that? Halitosis."

"Chafing. Ichthyosis."

"Ah, wait! Flu! And Jacob's disease."

"Um ...," Ben looked at Kevin, then at Gwen, confused. "What are you two doing?"

"Playing disease dictionary," Gwen shrugged, sitting up in her seat. "Kevin doesn't know a lot of diseases, so I'm giving him a break, though. Kawasaki disease."

She smirked and their driver frowned, displeased, but he didn't say anything. It was obvious who was winning the game.

Ben chuckled a little, feeling the mood lighten even though the sky continued it's wet attacks on Kevin's poor car: "At least he's trying. I don't know half of the things you named."

Gwen patted his head consolingly and sat forward: "Do you think we're almost there. I want to get this over with _before_ we go back to school."

Kevin nodded: "It look like we're getting closer. Maybe two miles further. Lachrymation."

Gwen was silent in the rear of the car and Ben turned to her out of curiosity. She blinked, not acknowledging his gaze, deep in her own thought: ""Lachrymation"," she inquired quietly. "I don't think that counts, Kevin. Mad cow disease."

Ben turned back to the older teen, who shrugged, uncaring whether or not his contribution to the game counted: "Narcosis."

It was somewhat amusing. Something was seriously wrong with the entire area, miles and miles of towns and roads completely uninhabited, and the three of them -only the three of them- were on their way to fight a possible hoard of aliens who most likely had such a grip on the surrounding environment that destroying the weather machine would create some sort of natural backlash as the area attempted to reassert itself, and two of them were playing a word game, the most prominent worry to them was whether or not Kevin's 'disease' counted. A smile didn't appear on Ben's face, however. His main concern was still the whereabouts of all the people that supposedly lived in the towns and whether or not they were safe ... or even alive. His stomach flopped and he went back to looking out his window at the less-than-friendly storm that raged outside.

"Oedema."

"Parkinson's disease."

"Q fever."

"Rabies."

"Strep."

"Tay-Sachs disease."

"Ulcerate."

"Vaginitis."

An amused snicker sounded from the back and Ben watched from the corner of his eye as Gwen relaxed back against the left door, a smirk on her face: "Warts. And, that's gross."

Kevin snorted, pulling the car over. The cousins looked forward, Gwen getting back up to do so, and saw the familiar spiral of clouds in the distance. Both of the wondered why Kevin parked so far away. It just meant they would be cold and tired by the time they reached the weather machine ...

"I'm not letting my car get wrecked because of some alien scum," Kevin murmured, reaching a hand out the slightly open door and absorbing the green metal of his car. "We walk from here. Stay close to Gwen, Ben. The last thing we need is for you to collapse because of hypothermia or something."

Ben scoffed, looking at the Omnitrix. As much as he wanted to use it and figure out which alien did what it wasn't a very good idea. Sure, he would have to use it for the upcoming battle, but since the style of the watch had changed dramatically, and, once again, he recognized none of the aliens at his disposal he'd be better of waiting.

Gwen left the car and went around the other side, creating a shield with her power, she held it above her head and made sure it was big enough for both her and Ben. As her cousin got under the 'umbrella' she cast a solemn look at the Omnitrix, positive that the time when they would no longer need the thing was not coming. It appeared the brunet was doomed to save the world on a never-ending basis, and the only thing she could do was watch as the Omnitrix became more and more a part of him.

-

Another curse passed his lips as his foot went through the surface of the water, a pothole hidden beneath the glimmering cover practically sucking his leg down to the knee. He stumbled, falling forward and catching himself on his hands, as the weapon-like appendage of the DNAlien whizzed were his neck had been. He pushed himself forward, using the alien's temporary imbalance to push it over. He blindly grabbed at his makeshift weapon, lost somewhere in one of the random patches of mud, but to no avail. His only option was to use the Omnitrix -he glared at the familiar red face of the glove- but it didn't want to help him. It had turned red the moment he went to use it, giving an 'access denied' beep, leaving him human and at the mercy of the DNAliens. Kevin and Gwen ran off to take care of the weather machine sometime before, effectively splitting their forces three ways. Gwen was doing fine, he knew. The purple glow of her alien power lashed overhead every now and again, giving him enough light in the near-darkness to see what he was up against.

He moved forward, dragging his numbing leg from the grip of the pothole, and barely felt something slice into his shin. He ignored the ping of pain and barreled into the nearest alien, sending it to the ground, before limping towards one of the surrounding buildings as quickly as he was able.

The doors were open, but the power was out. Not even a safety light was left on and Ben took a moment to catch his breath as the door swung shut behind him with an ominous creak. Some light got through the filthy windows, but not enough to see and he groped around the wall, moving away from the door.

It appeared to be a warehouse of some sort, abandoned and unused for probably years. There was nothing useful lying around that he could tell. No pipes, no boards, not even a screwdriver. He barely felt the stinging in his right leg where he'd cut it and he glared at the Omnitrix again.

"You really are useless, sometimes," he mumbled, fiddling with the unfamiliar dial.

The door slammed open behind him, the odd sounds of DNAlien speech sounding through the empty building. Ben froze, unsure of what to do. He knew the aliens could see in the dark better than he could, but he wasn't sure how much better. He dropped to his knees as their footsteps neared him, hearing the solid thunk of claws embedding in the wooden wall just above him. He turned, swiping his leg behind him, and knocked over the alien, feeling the splinters of wood bounce off his bare arms as the alien's claws ripped free. Standing, he jumped over the fallen alien and shouldered his way back to the still-open door and ran outside. It was still raining which meant that neither Kevin nor Gwen had been able to destroy the machine yet. His legs carried him towards Kevin, instincts telling him that the older teen would be the safest bet. He turned the dial on the Omnitrix a few more times, feet slowing a little when the red suddenly became black. Probably not a good sign.

The wet ground made it hard for him to turn the corner and he slipped, sliding away from his intended direction while simultaneously catching sight of his enemies following him. They were still a few yards away and, as he came to a stop, he sat back on his knees, his right leg completely numb, and pressed the buttons on the Omnitrix. The face remained blackened, but the dial popped up. He stared at it a moment before slamming it down, feeling his body begin to change.

It was painful. It shouldn't have been. It hurt all over and he felt his skin harden and his eyes burn. It was horrible and he couldn't stop the terrified scream that ripped from his throat.

-

Kevin had heard Ben scream and immediately abandoned his assault on the weather machine, running towards the sound. It wasn't what he expected, and he slid to a stop. It was Ben ... or so he thought. His shirt had disappeared, torn to shreds at his feet, and the entirety of his torso was covered in some sort of ... darkness. A flash of lightning and Kevin took a cautionary step backwards. Those weren't Ben's eyes. They were yellow, slanted, and a too-wide grin cut across the bottom half of his face. The Omnitrix remained firmly on the smaller's left arm, but it was dark. It was a cause for worry and Kevin's feet carried him past the stunned DNAliens to his boyfriend.

"Ben," he inquired, stopping a few feet away. There was no reply and the squelching sound of mud beneath shifting feet caught his attention. Ben looked normal from the waist down, but the alien life-form showed no sign of transforming him anymore. It was highly doubtful that he'd been taken over by a DNAlien. He didn't look anything like them, and he was obviously ready to fight them ... or slaughter them by the looks of it. "Ben," he tried again. Still no reply, only a tightening of the creepy grin and a flash that Kevin soon recognized as the younger teen attacking their foes. The claw-like right hand tore through the aliens easily, ripping them in half like they weren't even there. It was alarming. Ben knew the DNAliens were humans that were just possessed by another life-form, and killing them was the last thing he would think of doing.

Ten aliens fell before Kevin could even finish his disbelieving thought: "B-Ben! Stop!" Five more fell and the rest backed away. Blood mixed with the mud and water, tainting the mixture with angry streaks of red and the xenomorph stood amongst the gore, happy as a lark. It was a frightening scene and only grew more-so as the freezing rain finally stopped, the clouds dissipating and the calm darkness of night taking over.

-

He didn't move. Hadn't moved for six minutes. Kevin was beginning to wonder if this alien was similar to Alien X and if Ben was having some sort of argument with himself. The bodies of DNAliens littered the area. Fifteen of them, all still as ugly as they had been when they were alive. Even in death the alien remained part of the infected human, either that or these guys happened to be the real thing. Too hopeful. He'd seen infant and adult variations of the strange species, and neither looked like the yellow monstrosities that lay in ruins before him.

Gwen showed up, out of breath and completely dry, and Kevin prevented her from nearing her cousin. Worried as she was he couldn't risk her being attacked, especially since he wasn't sure if it was really Ben that stood in the clearing.

Another two minutes passed and Kevin skirted around Ben's left, looking at the dark face of the glove-like Omnitrix. He was sure that the device transformed with Ben, turning into something akin to a Plumber's badge, but it remained stubbornly as it had been. So, not only had the young man been incompletely transformed into ... something, but he wasn't responding to either of their voices and the Omnitrix was busted.

"Today is not our day," Kevin grumbled, hesitantly dropping the metal coating. Ben didn't move, though he could feel the other's eyes on him, the solid yellow spheres slightly moving to regard him in the other's periphery. The grin remained plastered to the other's face, teeth glinting deadly sharp in the moonlight, and his clawed hand twitched slightly. Blood seeped from a wound in his leg, though he was so covered in the aliens' blood that Kevin almost didn't notice. "He's hurt."

Gwen shifted a little, not sure whether she should go to her cousin and help him or if she should wait until the Omnitrix timed out. She watched helplessly as her cousin shivered violently, his form soaking wet from the earlier storm. Kevin neared the smaller, slowly, hand reaching out to touch Ben's shoulder. It was like a trigger. The alien form disappeared immediately and the young man collapsed, Kevin catching him around the stomach before he hit the ground.

-

It was bright. Sunlight poured mercilessly through the window above his head and he groaned. His body ached and he rolled to his side, burying his face in the soft leather of Kevin's backseat in an attempt to alleviate the discomfort. The sound of cloth rubbing against cloth permeated the eery silence of the car, overriding the rumble of the engine and he felt Gwen's hand on his shoulder. He whimpered pathetically, not sure why it hurt so much when she touched him.

"Is he awake," Kevin's voice was soft, gentle, and he opened his eyes, wanting nothing more than to curl up against the strong chest and fall into blissful slumber. He shifted, debating on whether or not to sit up as Gwen answered.

"I think so," the warmth of her hand disappeared from his shoulder and he decided against moving too much, knowing he would only injure himself if he tried. "Ben?"

He didn't want to answer. He was sure it would knock him out if he did, but his mouth moved stiffly, vocal chords forming a weak gurgle that could have been a 'yes' before it left his sore throat.

"How do you feel?"

He couldn't answer that. His throat protested with everything it had and his head pulsed until he thought he would cry. His entire body screamed at him to go back to sleep, if only to escape the pain, to ignore the question and the worry that rolled off the other two occupants in waves. He hated not telling them, but the discomfort was unbearable and it was all he could do to murmur a tiny 'no.'

Thankfully, Gwen knew enough to leave it at that and he heard her turn back to face the front.

"Well," Kevin's voice, a little louder this time. There was nothing from him beyond that and Ben figured his cousin had either told him to drop it or had given him a very mean glare. At that point he didn't care which. His eyes slipped shut, but the burning pain he felt kept him from anything more than a light slumber.

-

Hours. That's how long they'd been driving. Hours and hours. Hours upon hours. It felt like forever, and each passing moment brought nothing but more worry and fear. Besides the nasty gash down his shin, Ben didn't have any external injuries, but he was in too much pain to even communicate or, by the looks of it, sleep.

Kevin eyed the rearview mirror warily, watching the xenomorph twitch a little every now and again. He'd managed to turn over at some point, his green eyes gazing blankly at the back of Kevin's seat, but he hadn't moved since then and the anxiety continued to mount.

"We have to get him to a hospital," he whispered, hoping to spare the smaller any sort of pain them speaking brought.

Gwen simply nodded, eyes flicking to the left for only a moment. She didn't even attempt anymore contact with her cousin after he awoke, and Kevin could see that it was driving her mad. She wanted to help the other, but she wasn't a doctor and the only way she knew how to comfort Ben was with a gentle touch or words. She could use neither of those forms in his current state, fear of harming him overriding the urge to ease his pain.

"How are we going to get him out of the car," he asked, voice still quiet. The thought of other people touching and, coincidentally, harming his boyfriend wasn't a pretty one and not a scenario he was willing to watch.

There was no reply. Gwen sat rigid, her eyes remained steadily on the road before them, lips pursed and features impassive. It wasn't what he was hoping for and he looked into the rearview mirror again.

Ben still hadn't moved, but his green eyes, clouded over, met Kevin's dark ones in the mirror. Kevin offered a smile to the other: "Don't worry, Benjy. We're gonna find you some help."

The other blinked, eyebrows knitting together, but kept his gaze on Kevin's for another few moments before the dark-haired youth was forced to turn his attention back to the road.

He really hated that watch.

A/N: Oh, Ben, how we love to hurt you ... and have Kevin run to the rescue. Or do we? As always, please read and review. The next chapter will be up next week, although updates might slow down for a few weeks. It's finals week now and I've still got my English, Cellular Biology and Geographic Interface System exams. -fret fret- Much love to you all!!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3

They hadn't found a working hospital anywhere near them. In fact, the only thing that had been open that remotely resembled a clinic was a pediatric doctor. Luckily, the doctor was in and offered to assist the trio, taking Ben to a back room while Gwen and Kevin were forced to sit in the waiting area.

It was nerve-wracking, and Kevin wrung his hands together, eyes trailing along the wall as though trying to find an answer to their current situation. They were currently close to Las Vegas, nearly one-hundred miles away or about half-an hour's drive in the Camaro. That meant that there was a safe-house nearby that he'd used after he met Ben. There was food and water, but only one bed ... well, couch. It was a tiny place, and he doubted that Gwen would want to stay there with Ben in his current condition. Keeping the place in mind wasn't a bad idea, though, but he figured he'd run it by Gwen later.

Something had been bothering him. Ever since he'd met up with Ben again it had been a horrible, annoying niggling sensation in the back of his mind. He hunched forward a little, resting his elbows on his knees and glanced at Gwen.

She hadn't moved, eyes downcast, as though deep in thought, but she seemed to be in a much better mood since the doctor said Ben's injuries didn't look too serious. He figured that if anyone could help him, she would be able to.

"Hey, Gwen," he inquired, not facing her. She didn't move for a moment, and he thought she'd either ignored him or hadn't heard. He opened his mouth to try again-

"Yeah," her voice was soft, tired sounding, and he felt a little guilty at disturbing her.

"Uh ... about Ben," he started, one hand moving to rub at the back of his neck. He'd already shoved the ball down the hill, and he had no choice but to follow if he wanted to know where it ended up. "When we met up again, earlier this summer, he ... said something ..."

"You're going to have to be more specific," Gwen looked at her comrade, smiling a little. "Ben says a lot of things."

Kevin chuckled, putting his arm down and sitting up to give her his attention: "Yeah, he does, but ... this kinda bothered me. Do you know if he had a girlfriend after I left? I mean ... did he get back with Julie or someone?"

Gwen knitted her eyebrows together, obviously trying to figure out what he was trying to deduce, and shook her head: "Julie's hasn't contacted Ben since she left for Japan, and I don't recall him talking about anyone else. Why?"

"Then, do you know if he got _together_ with anyone? Y'know, like ... slept-"

Gwen made a face, holding up her hands in a surrender position: "I know what you're asking, and ... ew. It's not the way I wanted to ever imagine my cousin. _Ever._ And, if you must know: not that I'm aware."

It was Kevin's turn to look confused: "But ... he said earlier that he wasn't a virgin-"

"Kevin," the red-head raised her voice a little, giving him a stern 'drop it' look. "No. I don't know about it, and I don't think I want to. Please, I'm begging you: don't ask me. I don't want to think of any of my family members in that regard."

"How do you think your grandpa did _it_ with that alien?"

He laughed as the only answer he received was a punch in the arm. At least she wasn't driving herself nuts worrying about Ben anymore. Mission ... partially accomplished.

-

The next half hour was spent talking about which alien Ben turned into was their favorite. They agreed on two, thus far: Big Chill and XLR8. The others ... not so much.

"I still think FourArms was the best as far as power," Gwen stated, folding her arms delicately across her chest. "He was powerful _and_ compact. A perfect package."

"You would notice," Kevin scoffed, smirking at her. "Ghostfreak was still the coolest. That eye thing that went all around his body? Plus invisibility and intangibility, both big bonuses."

"But FourArms could take more of a beating, and he was red."

"Well ... who was your least favorite?"

"Ghostfreak."

Kevin thought a moment, recalling the history lesson he received shortly after becoming a 'good guy.' Ghostfreak had apparently been some sort of super alien that retained it's conscience inside it's DNA. When it manifested itself through Ben it became more and more aware and, eventually, broke free of the Omnitrix, tried to take over Ben's body and attempted to transmogrify all of humanity so it could rule the world in darkness. Creepy, but still kinda cool. Ben also mentioned not being able to completely be in control whenever he became Ghostfreak, losing his ability to communicate with Gwen and Max as well as control over his own body. He described it as being in a sort of limbo, where he rested and time meant nothing.

"That alien he transformed into earlier ... Ben wasn't really aware, that we knew of. He wasn't _really_ himself," he remembered the chills he got when the ... thing looked at him without so much as moving it's head. "Could it be another Ectoneurite?"

Gwen's stiff shoulders and wide eyes scared him more than they should have. She didn't say anything for the longest time, her eyes distant and her body completely still.

All she could think of was what Ghostfreak had cost Ben. It knew everything the Omnitrix had to offer. The alien DNA kept inside, how it worked, which aliens did what, how many there were, and everything about Ben. It had almost killed the three of them that summer, and the thought of facing such a powerful foe again sent shivers down her spine. If it was already so far ahead as to take Ben's free will from him it probably put Ghostfreak to shame.

The thought settled in her stomach and she blinked. If an Ectoneurite was intangible and invisible, then surely Ben would have exhibited some of those powers while fighting. The only thing he showed, as far as she could gather from Kevin's testimony, was that he was really fast and had really sharp claws. That had been backed up by the DNAlien remains she saw blanketing the ground.

Finally, she shook her head: "No. There's no way. It didn't show the same characteristics as Ghostfreak. If anything, it seemed more like an ... Accelerate."

Kevin raised his eyebrows, regarding the other with surprise: "Well, yeah, but I don't recall ever seeing Ben go ballistic when he was XLR8 ... well, not anymore than normal. He wasn't fighting with himself while he was handing me my own ass on a platter, that was for sure."

"XLR8 didn't have the same powers as Ghostfreak. Their species doesn't retain their conscience inside DNA strands. Ghostfreak was the only one who could do that."

"So, what? Either it's another Ghostfreak, it's a species similar to Ghostfreak, _or_-"

Gwen didn't like that particular 'or.'

"The Omnitrix is broken."

Well, it was a better alternative than she had. Ben completely merging with the alien tech wasn't something she wanted to think about. Especially with such a dangerous enemy on the horizon.

"We do know it's caused lots of problems in the past," she murmured, eyes shifting to gaze out the window. The sun was beginning to dip low in the blue sky, not a single cloud in sight, and she idly wondered if, perhaps, she and Ben would have gone out on a picnic had it been any other situation. "However ... Ben seemed to have everything in control. I don't think the Omnitrix is broken, I think ... that maybe-"

"A-At any rate, we won't know for sure until Ben tells us what happened," Kevin interrupted her, not wanting to hear what his mind had been telling him since they arrived at the tiny clinic. He wasn't too surprised when Gwen simply snapped her mouth shut, stilling herself once more. For all he knew she was probably more scared of the real reason that he was, and he was damn scared.

-

Four hours passed uneventfully and Kevin snored loudly in the chair beside her. His head was thrown back, his right elbow resting at an awkward angle on the back of the chair, one leg hastily thrown over the other for balance, and drool was beginning to pool on the floor. It would have been an amusing sight, she even allowed herself a tiny smile, but just as she was about to say something snarky the doctor walked through the door, blinking almost owlishly around the room until he located the pair.

"Oh, there you are," he smiled and headed towards them, a slight hunch to his back telling Gwen all she needed to know about Ben's condition. "It was so quiet out here I'd nearly wondered if you'd both run off to have a bit of fun. Not that there's much fun to be had around these parts, but all the same."

She stood, stretching very slightly, and smiled at the older man, shaking his hand firmly: "We owe you a debt of gratitude, doctor. It must've been hard keeping my cousin in check all this time."

The doctor laughed, scratching his mustache at the joke, and let go of the young woman's hand.

"Believe it or not, he was actually a very good patient. A little sensitive at first, but he fell asleep rather quickly," grey eyes glanced back at the door to the waiting room, as though waiting for said boy to emerge in a whirlwind of childish destruction. When no such thing occurred he turned his attention back to the young woman before him. "Rather surprising when you consider all that's happened recently. Those monsters coming out of every orifice of the neighboring towns, slaughtering people and driving them away. It's been a nightmare. Those strange storms only made it worse and everyone left in such a hurry ..."

Gwen knitted her delicate brows together, regarding the elderly man: "Then why did you and that nurse stay? If it was so dangerous how come you didn't leave with all the others?"

"Ah, a doctor's work is never done," he said simply. "I couldn't just leave knowing there are people still out there. Missing, possibly injured."

'Or dead,' her thoughts filled in what hadn't been said and she shifted her weight.

"I'm glad it seems to be over," he nodded at Kevin. "You're lucky to be here, young lady, but you should take the advice of your friend here and get some rest. It'll be a while before your cousin wakes up."

The redhead nodded, sitting back on the stiff chair and trying to get comfortable-

"I could set you up a bed, if you'd like."

She shook her head, looking at Kevin: "We'll be fine. Thanks."

Without further ado, the doctor left, flipping off a few of the lights before he disappeared behind the door yet again.

-

The next morning was just as cloudless and bright as the day before and Kevin was amused to discover that he woke up first. Gwen looked disheveled, as though she'd tried to toss in her sleep. Unfortunately for her she was as comfortable as she would ever be in a waiting room chair, and no amount of fidgeting or curling would change that. He was tempted to wake her up by playing some sort of immature prank on her. Like ... tickling her nose, or putting shaving cream on her face, or dipping her hand in water, or shaving her eyebrows ... he stifled a laugh at the image that brought, putting a hand hastily over his mouth to cover the resulting snort. All those options were amusing, however, he could think of about ten reasons why he shouldn't even try it.

Instead, he stood, stretching and enjoying the crack of his joints as they popped back into place. The night seemed much longer than it had been and he glanced at his watch. Eight hours he'd been asleep, but the torture-chair had made it seem like twenty.

"What a night," he groaned, putting his hands to the small of his back and pressing into them. His spine popped again, all the way down to his tail bone and he grunted. Gwen would probably be extremely grumpy once she woke up, so ... to assure that he didn't find himself in a possibly deadly situation, especially since her bed-head begged to be teased, he reasoned he would have to go see Ben.

He went through the famous door, the only thing that stood between him and-

He jumped, not expecting anyone to be there, and backed off a step.

-the nurse?

She waved, smiling at him sweetly. She was very pretty, he noted absently. Her straight black hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail, pink scrubs flattering her lightly tanned skin and small body, while her eyes hinted at some sort of Asian ancestry. That made his gut cringe. After Julie tried to steal Ben's heart he couldn't find it in himself to even consider taking an Asian lover. He associated all of them with _her_.

"Your friend is in the second room on the left," she said, and moved past him carefully, almost like she sensed his animosity. "He should be waking up about now."

He nodded, watching as she went into the waiting room where Gwen was still asleep. The door clicked shut behind her and he continued making his way towards his boyfriend.

His stomach did a little flip at that, his mind loving that particular bit of knowledge.

'Ben. My boyfriend,' he thought to himself grinning as he pushed open the specified door. 'The ass-kicking, drop-dead-gorgeous, green-eyed, totally _naked_-!'

His thoughts ended there and he could swear he felt blood dripping from his nose at the image presented to him. Ben Tennyson, naked as the day he was born, stood before him, green eyes wide and staring at the intruder, one leg poised to step into a pair of black scrubs. Damn ...

"B-Ben," he inquired, holding a hand to his nose, just in case. "What ... "

"My clothes were ruined," a blush spread across the other's fine features and Ben turned his attention back to the task at hand. "The nurse gave me new ones."

"Ah, want me to help," Kevin was honestly worried. Ben was injured, after all ... at least he kinda remembered ... yeah, there it was. The younger's leg was bandaged tightly, and thoughts that had nothing to do with helping Ben get dressed raced through Kevin's mind. Fire spread through his body and he swallowed behind his hand. The brunet truly was a blessing in disguise. Obviously some sort of gift sent to him for turning into a good-guy. It was what he reasoned, at least. If Ben hadn't been around, well, he might have just stayed evil and taken over the world. Luckily, Ben was very difficult to resist.

The smaller slipped effortlessly into the too-big scrub pants and tied a knot around his waist with the string. He awarded Kevin's concern with a half-hearted glare, tossing on a matching black scrub shirt almost as an afterthought.

The pair looked at each other for a moment, Kevin's hand slowly taking it's rightful place back at it's owner's side. The older teen's face was blood-free and Ben wondered if Kevin deserved something more than just a weak glare. He was horny, yes, but he was also patient and understanding. It was more than what Ben could have asked for as far as a boyfriend and he decided the taller should at least be rewarded.

He put on his best pout, eyes widening and lower lip jutting out just slightly. Kevin's reaction told him all he needed to know. The taller was hooked, drawn to the smaller teen by way of pouty-face, and unable to refuse even the most ridiculous of orders. Ben smirked a little on the inside, remembering when he first tried the face on Gwen. She'd been hard-pressed to resist, although she'd tried very hard, and he hadn't been injured then. Now, he was wounded, pain lancing through his shin and thigh with every little movement, and he made sure his boyfriend knew with just a look.

"Carry me," he asked, knowing he sounded pathetically adorable. He worked on his voice, too. After all, the package wasn't complete without it.

Kevin resigned himself to his fate rather easily, not even putting up a tiny fight, and walked over to the younger. Strong arms lifted Ben effortlessly into a familiar bridal style and Ben's arms wound around Kevin's neck. Even though he'd asked to be carried he was still somewhat surprised that Kevin would actually do it. It wasn't like the older teen to simply do as asked without questioning it first. Then again ... Ben figured he'd done a pretty good job at being cute and helpless, so maybe Kevin had a thing for that ...

He peeked up at the taller as Kevin left the room to, presumably, go back to wherever Gwen was hanging out. It was highly unlikely that Kevin liked the damsel-in-distress routine, especially considering he'd practically drooled after Gwen during their second encounter. She was no pushover, especially not with her alien powers so eagerly at her disposal, and she had a black belt in Jiu Jitsu and karate, not to mention her infamous mental prowess that earned her more than one recognition and recommendation for Harvard.

"Alright, pipsqueak," Kevin taunted, pushing the door to the waiting room open. "Lemme just show Gwen how sad you are and then we'll leave this one-horse town."

Said young woman was wide awake, her arms crossed in front of her ample chest and one shoe-clad foot tapped on the tile floor in annoyance.

"Trying to take advantage of my helpless cousin, Kevin," she inquired, raising an eyebrow. "Tsk, tsk. I thought you, of all people, would have more chivalry towards a wounded damsel."

Ben hid his face in Kevin's shoulder, his face burning with embarrassment. 'Wounded damsel' was not what he would have used to describe himself. Fallen hero, maybe. Injured high school grad, sure. Hell, even weepy little cousin sounded better! Damn if he hadn't set himself up, though.

"Hey, his leg hurts, Gwen," Kevin chastised, shifting the light load in his arms. "If he can't walk, then he can't walk. It's not like I molested him or anything."

"But you tried to," the smaller brunet grumbled into Kevin's shirt. There was silence and he was half-sure that Gwen had heard him. He maturely refused to look at either of them, opting to try and find a dimensional pocket in Kevin's shoulder that he could fall into.

There was no such luck, however, and he felt more than heard Kevin start walking again, shouting a 'Thank-you' as the door chimed.

-

They drove to Las Vegas in silence, the half hour passing relatively quickly. Ben sat quietly in the back, stretched out, and grinned at Gwen's half-hearted glare. She liked sitting in the back of Kevin's car simply because she had more room to stretch out, but due to Ben's injuries she and Kevin had agreed that he would be more comfortable in the back seat, laying down with a spare pillow tucked behind his head than in the front, forced to sit upright with his elbow crooked painfully on the arm rest. Although ... she kinda wanted to get back there again. Decompressing from her evening in a hard, wooden chair by catnapping in the back seat sounded good. Then again, she probably just should have taken the doctor up on his offer instead of saying she and Kevin would be content with their chair-beds.

She turned back in her seat, not wanting to give Ben too much satisfaction, and glanced out the window. Desert rolled by uneventfully, a stray hare the only interesting thing in the reddened sand.

"Hey, at least we know where we are," Kevin's voice sounded bored. They, once again, tried to alleviate the boredom by fussing around what little Kevin kept in the front seat. She'd already read every single one of his speeding tickets, even going so far as to decode the scrawling signatures of the law enforcers who gave them to him, and the map was not much fun. Unfortunately for the pair, the radio was still out of commission, not so much as static coming through the speakers.

Ben, however, seemed to be doing just fine alone in the back. He'd transformed his shoelaces into a cat's cradle once already and was meticulously working on the Eiffel Tower. Without much luck. Thankfully, the ride ended quickly. Unfortunately, Gwen and Kevin were stuck helping Ben disentangle his poor shoelaces for about ten minutes.

Piggyback-riding on Kevin looked like fun. At least ... it was amusing for _her_. Ben didn't want to be carried anywhere, at least not in public, and kicked at Kevin's sides like a child, quietly asking to be put down so as not to draw too much attention. Kevin, on the other hand, was quite happy carrying around her smaller cousin, and blatantly ignored all of the younger's protests with a grin and an occasional pinch to his behind.

Ben squeaked again and she looked over. He'd given up kicking at the taller teen's side and had gone to tugging on the shoulder-length black hair and whispering discreetly in his ear. He wasn't saying anything beyond 'Please put me down' and 'I'll go back to the car and watch it, just set me down here.' Of course Kevin still looked like the cat that got the canary, a Cheshire grin spread across his features. The pair looked silly and she kept just enough distance to let other people think she had nothing to do with them, yet was still close enough so that they wouldn't get separated in the crowd of people.

"This must be where all those missing people went," Kevin mused. It wasn't much of an understatement, either. It seemed everyone who'd evacuated the small towns during the alien attack congregated to Las Vegas and they were all walking the streets. The throng of people surrounding them was unnerving and Gwen debated on whether or not to start sticking closer to her cousin and his boyfriend -Ben let out another indignant squeal and she turned her head, chuckling- before deciding against it. If they got separated it wasn't like she and Kevin didn't have their Plumbers badges on them. Besides, there weren't any aliens around that she could see, and everyone seemed calm enough.

She let herself relax a fraction more, going so far as to slouch just slightly. A typical teenager walk and the eyes of passerby's didn't spare her a second glance.

"Incognito," she murmured to herself, sparing a glance at the other two. Of course they were garnering the attention of practically everyone that passed them, getting second, and sometimes third, looks as they moved through the mass of people. It probably wasn't everyday a couple of guys piggy-backed through the streets. Not that she knew of, anyway.

"Gwen, Kevin keeps pinching my ass," Ben whined suddenly.

She snorted derisively, shaking her head: "Behave, children."

Kevin smirked, looking over his shoulder at the weight on his back: "It's alright, babe. I won't leave a mark."

Ben simply sighed and put his forehead to the back of Kevin's shoulder, resigning himself to his fate.

-

After about an hour of walking, Gwen started to grow anxious.

"Where are we going, exactly, Kevin?"

"I've got a place further up. A ... safe-house if you will," Kevin attempted a shrug, which wasn't easy considering the slumbering young man with his arms draped around the older's shoulders. "It's what I used when I was younger to hide out and stash extra stuff when I was in the area."

Gwen raised an eyebrow at that: ""When you were in the area?" Really? When were you ever down here, Kevin?"

Another attempted shrug: "About four times a year. I had some good suppliers back in the day that resided in Las Vegas. And you'd be surprised at the amount of humans involved in alien-tech trading down here. Not that I could trust any of them."

The redhead made a face, remembering when they were younger how Kevin had hurt Ben with his betrayal. It'd been difficult to pick up the pieces that were left behind, and Ben stopped trying to make friends with people they met during the rest of their trip. However, she looked at the taller male, Kevin didn't seem too intent on going back to his old ways anymore. He did say that once the high breed was defeated and the Earth was no longer in turmoil he'd go back to trying to kill Ben, but he hadn't. He'd stayed, even gone so far as to date her smaller cousin, but she couldn't help but feel that pang of fear. What would happen now, if Kevin decided to leave again? She had no doubt what she would do, beat him to a bloody pulp, especially after toying with Ben's heartstrings so much. But Ben ... would he go alien and do the same? Or would he accept it and resign himself to a life of loneliness and fear of letting another person in his heart?

The sleeping bundle on Kevin's back mumbled something incoherent and she frowned sadly. If Kevin betrayed Ben again ... Ben would probably kill him. It was a future she didn't want to think of, let alone have anything to do with, and she gnawed lightly on her bottom lip.

As if sensing her thoughts, Kevin's dark eyes sought out her own, and he smiled. A big, goofy grin that looked so dumb she couldn't help the giggle that escaped her. It was somewhat reassuring, but as they neared Kevin's 'safe-house' another pang of fear moved through her body.

-

"Welcome, children, to my humble Southern home," Kevin grinned and unlocked the metal door. It slid open with a hiss and the trio was met with a dark room and a cloud of dust.

The taller teen reached in a hand and flicked a switch, sending tired, yellow light filtering through filthy glass cases in the ceiling. Sand and dust covered every available surface, and a few spiders and roaches skittered along the floor and walls at the disturbance.

Gwen made a face and covered her mouth and nose with a single hand, stepping hesitantly into the room, followed by Kevin.

"Homey," she grumbled sarcastically, eyeing the ... furniture? That was furniture, right? Under all that sand?

Kevin walked over to one of the sand-covered pieces and grabbed a hold of what appeared to be a sheet, taking the cloth swiftly off the couch that was hidden under it and sending mounds of dust and grit through the air. Ben sneezed from Kevin's back and woke up, looking around groggily. The taller set the younger down on the revealed furniture, ignoring Gwen's coughing and the look of disgust that momentarily passed over Ben's face.

The place had to have been left alone for decades to be in such a condition, and Ben idly wondered if the cushions of the couch should feel like they were filled with bugs, or if they really were. He didn't dare inspect the furniture closely, lest he discover something he didn't want to.

"Why are we here," Gwen inquired, sitting next to her cousin and sending up another flurry of dust. Ben sneezed again.

The older brunet didn't answer at first, rummaging through a box in a dark corner of the room, back towards the pair. Small pieces of technology he'd acquired over the years stared back at him through a thick layer of dirt and grime. Gears that were once kept oiled and clean were now useless until thoroughly cleaned, a task he didn't much want to take upon himself. Weapons that ran on radioactive elements peeked out, needing to be trashed. The shelf-life of the materials used as a power source had long-since passed and the mechanisms were corroded because of leaky casings. He tossed everything aside that he knew he couldn't salvage, half-hearing the steady breathing of the two behind him. They were still waiting for an answer, but a deatomizer caught his attention and he grinned. Five years ago the thing was worth a fortune and it had been completely unintentional when he'd run across it while boarding an unauthorized alien ship. He'd kept it, sure he could sell it to a willing buyer, but the only ones interested in such technology lived far to the north, especially in Montana, and here the weapon had sat, gathering dust and taking up space. He picked it up, carefully, and checked it over. It still worked, that he could see, and although he was tempted to give it a test fire, he couldn't risk it with both Gwen and Ben nearby. Ben was injured, first off, and discharging such a weapon would grab the attention of hundreds of aliens and whatever other Plumber happened by. Putting the cousins in such danger wasn't an option and he grabbed another sheet off of a night stand, gently wrapping the weapon up and setting it aside.

"Kevin?"

Ben's voice dragged him out of his reverie and he turned to face the smaller.

Two pairs of green eyes gazed back at him, worry evident in the glimmering depths.

"Oh, uh ... I'm just checking through some of this stuff," he said, turning back to the box. "A lot of it's illegal, so I'd rather get rid of it now than wait 'til later."

He didn't have to look at the pair to know they disproved of his previous lifestyle. It was evident in the weight of their gaze on his back. He almost chuckled, figuring it to be mostly Gwen. Ben's eyes didn't feel so ... calculating and ominous ...

He stilled his hands, feeling the gaze shift from him, and stood.

"I think ... we should go," he said, bending over to pick up the deatomizer. "Now."

Ben looked at Gwen questioningly, receiving only a shrug in reply as she stood.

There was a moment, as Ben stood slowly on his own, trying not to put weight on his injured leg, that was silent. Almost like the three of them were thrust into some sort of void. A violet flash passed scarily close to his face and Kevin yelled something. His cousin's hand pushed down on his head and he obeyed the silent command, curling down and out of the way as she set off another round of her powers at the unseen threat.

Kevin, he noticed, had already absorbed the metal from the weapon he'd been holding. It was only enough to cover his arms, but it didn't seem to be one of the other's bigger concerns. Ben followed the angry glare of the older brunet, head turning to see the unwanted intruder. Green eyes widened at the sight, recognizing the lizard-like bodies and the violent claws that so easily ripped through his own flesh not a month before.

The next few moments happened in slow motion as one of the creatures lunged forward, towards Kevin. Metal arms went up to meet to deadly claws halfway only to be pushed aside easily. The long head snapped forward and teeth that looked to be more at home in a lions mouth than a lizards sank into the taller teen's shoulder. Much to Kevin's credit he didn't scream out in pain, although Ben knew he should be feeling it, but the teeth weren't the only things that the creature intended to pierce the soft flesh with. Claws came up quickly as metal arms came up again, grabbing the jaws and trying to pull them apart, and dug into the older's abdomen. Before he knew what he was doing, Ben felt himself rush forward, hand automatically popping the dial of the Omnitrix up before slamming it back down. He felt his body change, not painful as it had been before, and was somewhat relieved. A normal transformation was a good thing.

He grew, much like when he'd become Humongosaur, but it wasn't a growth he could control. His hands elongated and he fell forward on them, watching as they became claws and covered in scales. His back legs twisted and became more powerful, holding his new body up easily. There was a ripping sensation on his back and an extra set of appendages sprouted, breaking through the roof of Kevin's safe house.

Feeling the transformation stop he bared an impressive array of fangs, reaching his head forward and snapping up the lizard creature that continued to gouge at Kevin's body. The scaled body broke quickly in his maw and he turned, swallowing the remains of the creature to finish off whatever else was there.

Gwen he recognized and slunk past in favor of two more lizards hissing at him from a dark corner. He grabbed one and devoured it without a second thought, but the second managed to slither through a hole in the floor, its angry growls loud even as it retreated to the darkness.

He debated going after it, but decided against it, instead turning his attention to his wounded comrade. Gwen was already at Kevin's side, trying to stop the blood flowing from the wounds, but to no avail. They were too deep and she looked up at her transformed cousin, swallowing nervously at the sight of blood on his scaley maw, before speaking to him.

"Ben, we need to get Kevin out of here, back to a hospital," she looked at the wings that sprouted from the others back. "Can you fly us to one?"

Ben gave a warbled response and cocked his head to the side when he realized she couldn't understand him. Leaning forward, he lay down and moved his wings back, watching as she heaved a barely conscious Kevin to his back.

He snarled at the scent of his boyfriend's blood, wanting nothing more than to ruin the entire species of lizards that dared harm the older teen.

Gwen gave her confirmation that she and Kevin were ready before he stood and flew off.

-

Flying with her cousin was her favorite past time. At least, it was under normal circumstances. Using her powers she was able to quell the flow of blood easier, but the trail that made its way down Ben's side worried her. There was too much of it.

She looked down at Kevin's larger form, frowning in worry. He'd passed out not long after she managed to get him laying on Ben's withers and hadn't moved since.

Green eyes peered out over Ben's shoulder. The ground was far below, people nothing more than dots on the surface. Navigating was difficult from so high up, but she had yet to see the familiar heliport dawned with a red cross, so assuming they hadn't found a hospital was easy.

She sighed and idly stroked Kevin's hair from his face. His expression was peaceful, almost like he was just sleeping, and she felt her hand move from his hair to his neck, hesitantly pressing down on it to feel for a pulse.

It was faint, barely detectable, and she held her breath, waiting for Kevin to breathe in again before letting it out. She'd only ever seen people survive with such injuries in movies and television shows, and those people were heroes. Surely, if their life had become so much like a movie lately, he would be alright. He would wake up, two days later, look up at her and Ben and smile. He would ask why they were crying and if something had happened like he didn't know and they would laugh and punch his arm and have a happy ending.

When they finally found a hospital, Kevin's breathing had stopped, his pulse disappeared, his body grew cold and Gwen knew that their life was nothing like the movie she hoped it'd be.


	5. Chapter 5

Merry Christmas! Two chapters for you! Hope you all enjoy them, and I'll try and get more soon, so be patient with me for a while. I've run into some minor problems in the inspiration department due to the death of my cat this morning, so it might be a while before I get anything else done. I'll try to get another chapter up by next week, though.

As always, thanks to Hi-chan for betaing this for me, and to all my reviewers: Ritornello, Minty Chinchilla, and Quimbelork. I appreciate your constant reviews on this little child of mine!!! And, without further ado, on to the fic!

Chapter 4

The funeral was small. The Tennysons were present, of course, as were a few Plumbers and kids from school that somewhat knew Kevin beforehand. Friends of the Tennyson's family stopped in to offer their condolences and, of course, a few of his enemies who stopped by to make sure he was dead. Unfortunately for them, Kevin's body was not present. It had been moved from the Las Vegas morgue to Atlanta to be used for forensics research. Kevin had offered his body up to science when he'd received his legal driver's license, a fact that Ben didn't know.

It was depressing, knowing that his boyfriend's body was on it's way to Georgia to be hacked up by some scientists he didn't even know. No one had any idea what kind of guy the ex-con had been. How kind he became and how loving he really was.

Ben didn't cry at the funeral. He schooled his features to that of a stubborn child, a deep frown furrowing his brows as he blatantly refused to look at the empty casket. Gwen cried openly, sobbing into her mother's shoulder, but her tears were the only ones he saw that day. No one else really knew Kevin, so no one else offered tears or sobs of pity. Ben's own mother managed to get up and say a few kind words, but they were empty. She hadn't known him, either.

There were a lot of things he wanted to say, then. That Kevin was an intergalactic hero, that he should be worshiped and have a monument mounted in Bellwood Park in his honor. It would be pointless. No one would believe him and the words would only give him the pitiful stares of twenty-or-so clueless people.

The adults went about their way, off to the church to socialize, and the high school children that had come for the funeral remained. Some brought roses and placed them almost lovingly on the casket, next to a picture of Kevin with a huge grin plastered on his face and a grease smudge on his left cheek.

Cash and JT bowed their heads as they placed the castrated plants on his boyfriend's casket and turned to face the cousins.

JT could only manage a pathetic "I'm sorry for your loss" before he walked away as fast as he could, an arm reaching up to scrub at his eyes.

Cash watched him go before giving Ben his full attention.

"I know you were his best friend, and trust me when I say I know what he felt for you," he began, scrawny figure slouching a little. The posture contrasted sharply with his black suit, and shiny leather shoes scuffed lightly at the ground. "At one point I thought of him as a rival. Nothing more than another bully to get out of my turf. We didn't know each other that well, but I know you. I know you well enough to understand that this hurts more than anything probably ever will.

"I wish I could tell you that I believe in God and that He loves Kevin. I wish I could tell you that Heaven is real and that Kevin's in a better place now." He laughed a little, dry and fake: "I wish I could tell you that there is a Hell and that Kevin's gonna have a lot of fun down there. Unfortunately, I don't believe in any of those things. Religion isn't my forte and I don't plan on making a living based off of some creature we don't even know exists.

"I'm most certainly not going to tell you possible lies now that you've lost someone very close to you. It just wouldn't be right and it wouldn't be fair. I guess my point is, Kevin was a jerk but he made you incredibly happy. I hope, one day, you can find someone else who makes you just as happy. It's your prerogative and I don't want to upset you by saying crap like "move on" and "get over it soon" and I may not be sorry that he's dead, if only because I didn't know him well enough myself, but I am sorry that you're broken. I ... I hope someone can put you back together again."

He refrained from touching Ben, unsure of how the smaller would react to physical contact, but nodded at him and his cousin before wandering off after JT.

Gwen left not long after, inside and away from the unnaturally chill summer evening, no doubt to cry a little more and fix her make-up before she and her family headed home. Suddenly, Ben found himself alone. Not just physically, either. A weight settled in his chest, a dark, cold lump that rendered him vulnerable and branded him as a ruined remain of a once unbreakable bond. Kevin was gone, Gwen left him, and now he stood, alone and cold, gazing at the undisturbed ground below the empty casket and wondering if, maybe, things were supposed to be different. If there was a world where Kevin was still alive and well and knew that Ben really loved him. A Kevin that knew Ben didn't mean any harm by leading him on, a world where the two of them, just the two of them, managed to make a life together. A happy, solid life where nothing but each other mattered. Aliens, Plumbers, lives, school, work, reputations, all left in the background in favor of hot nights under unnecessary sheets and sweaty bodies.

Something wet made its way down his face and he looked up, waiting to see the curtain of rain fall around him and close this sad chapter in his life. However, the sky was not feeling so merciful and, even though the sun continued to set as it always had and the birds continued to sing their evening songs, the rain never did fall, but his cheeks remained wet and stained. He idly wondered if they would leave permanent marks down his face, like scars, and if showing such a weakness would make him any less of a person; of a hero.

-

The pain never did go away. Not a month later when Gwen went out-of-state to begin her new life on Harvard campus, not when Cash moved away with his father to a different country, giving one last good-bye and a few more heartfelt apologies for both past and present, and not when JT got into a horrible car accident that took the lives of his grandmother and nephew and rendered him comatose.

If anything, the pressure in his chest increased and, as his summer drew to a near-end and the beginning of college loomed before him down in Louisiana he shuddered. Kevin's grave lay empty and unturned, the casket that was used for show put back in the funeral home, and a few stray flowers littered the ground before the marker.

There he stood, before the great white marble slab that proudly declared "Kevin Ethan Levin/ Friend and Dearly Beloved." There was no date for his birth, only the year that he died. No one really knew when he'd been born. They'd all simply assumed that the age he'd given had been the correct one, and since everything he'd owned had been confiscated, including his driver's license, they had no way of knowing the exact year. It was sad. Pitiful, really and he looked down at his hands.

They shook, a sensation he'd grown accustomed to over the past weeks, though whether it was with guilt or something else was beyond him. They quivered and, if he looked hard enough, he could see splatters of wet blood littering the white palms. It wasn't like he'd killed his boyfriend with his own hands, but it was certainly the way he felt. He couldn't help but think that if he'd flown faster, or if he'd just transformed a bit earlier, or lashed out in a wider arc, that he could have saved the older male. There were always possibilities, they were there, he knew, but it was useless to think of such things. Kevin's life was already forfeit, had been for an entire month, and there was most certainly nothing he could do about it. Absolutely nothing.

Yet here he found himself, everyday, green eyes taking in the sight of the still-new tombstone and the name that almost seemed unfamiliar inscribed in the fine marble. Something so beautiful marking something so ugly. He hated it, and the flowers that surrounded it. They were acceptance. People just accepted that Kevin was gone forever, that he would never be back and that nothing in the world could be done about it.

He sobbed, broken and nearly silent in the afternoon sun. The other people may have accepted it. Death, after all, was an inevitability, unavoidable and liberating. He, however, was not so understanding. Someone had taken his love away, and someone had to pay.

-

A week later Ben was moved into his own dormitory at Nicholls University in southern Louisiana. He would begin preparing for the rest of his life in the cramped area, his room conjoined to his roommate's by way of a tiny kitchenette. They shared a bathroom, a tiny room with a toilet, a bath/shower and cold tile floors. His roommate hadn't arrived, seeing as classes didn't start for another two weeks or so, and he had the place to himself. Well, mostly to himself. A few roaches skittered furiously across the floor as he opened his mini-fridge to grab a soda, but he ignored them. An exterminator was scheduled to arrive at the dormitories just before classes began to take care of the multitude of pests, so any he saw for the next two weeks would be all he saw for the rest of his time in the dorm. He hoped, at least.

Back in his room he plopped himself unceremoniously in the lounge chair provided for him by the campus and drew up the blinds on his solitary window. It was another bright, sunny day and a few straggling students meandered about on the sidewalk, heading towards food sources or pre-class parties, and he watched as they passed.

They all looked so happy, so carefree. He was jealous of that. To be so enthusiastic about life, about starting the real part of their meager existence, was a luxury he couldn't afford any longer. The one person he wanted to stay with was gone and their entire group dynamic was destroyed, reduced to a tiny pile of lukewarm ash in the aftermath.

The entrance to the sewer was just outside his window, not twenty feet away. He had yet to investigate it, but he wanted to. Waiting for night was useless as the students seemed to be more active then, out and about, drunk and wasted out of their minds. If he so much as went outside he would be attacked by a gaggle of smashed, tweaked and giggling dorm-mates and be commandeered to go to some mindless party.

That in and of itself was sure to be rectified the moment classes began. The dorms had a strict eleven o'clock curfew, the iron gates that allowed entrance to the building were locked and anyone left outside and caught would be given a written warning. Suspension was the second warning, and expulsion the third. Parties were still allowed, but they had to be kept to a reasonable decibel level and had to be inside. Of course, if he tried to go into the sewers then and ended up getting caught ... he'd be screwed.

He sighed and glared at the circular doorway, as though it would magically appear in his room and grant him entrance. It stubbornly refused his silent wish and he made a face at it, hoping to goad it into making a move.

-

Harvard was much larger than she expected. Being a very selective school she imagined it would have had a small campus and very few people, especially with weeks to go before school began. It turned out that most of the students enjoyed getting an early start and, by the time she found her dorm room her roommate was already there and unpacked, typing hastily away on her laptop.

"Hi, I'm Gwen Tennyson, your new roommate," the other girl turned and smiled, too-big glasses dwarfing her face. She held out her hand: "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," the girl replied, green eyes sparkling fairly happily. As it turned out, the girl must have been Irish. Dark red hair, green eyes, and a pale complexion decorated with small freckles wouldn't allow any other denomination. "I'm Ginny Lee O'Mally. Friends call me Ginny. Is this your first year in Harvard?"

Gwen nodded and shoved her stuff out of her way, deciding maybe she could socialize first and unpack later.

"I'm kinda nervous. This school is so selective and it looks like most of the students are already here getting a head start," she smiled sheepishly. "I feel like I'm late."

Ginny shook her head and turned her chair around so she was fully facing Gwen: "Not at all. Most of those guys are fraternity and sorority students and they're here preparing their own dormitories and making up activities to get people to join. They always get here in the middle of summer working on things like that, especially for Harvard pride. I'm just here because it's quiet and I can work on my thesis paper that's due next year."

"Next year? Shouldn't you start that when it's assigned?"

"I guess, but I've always been so terrible at writing papers that I figured I should start early. Besides, there's a list of thesis paper topics online that Harvard asks for, so it's helped a lot."

"Oh, I didn't know. Where-"

"It's an exclusive website, closed-circuit, very hush-hush," Ginny opened her web browser and typed in an address. "I'll give you my log-in, if you'd like, and you can poke around to see what's there."

"That's really nice of you," Gwen sighed, happy that she'd made fast friends with her roommate, especially since she was supposed to spend the rest of the school year with her. "And, if you need help writing your thesis let me know. I'm really adept with essays and the like."

"Thanks!"

They spent the rest of the day looking over the website and talking about their interests. It was funny that they both ended up being closet anime _and _yaoi freaks.

-

The next few days were uneventful. Ginny ended up bringing most of her anime collection from her home in Montana, without her parents' knowledge, and they watched them, picking out yaoi hints and comparing their favorite characters and pairings. It was fun, and Gwen almost hoped that the school year wouldn't start so that she could spend the entire semester just hanging out with Ginny.

"So, do you think Kon and Toki are the best canon pairing in there, or what," Gwen giggled and laid down on her bed.

"Personally I like Bonten and Tsuyukusa with Kon and Toki as my secondary and Bonten and Kon as my tertiary," the other redhead adjusted her glasses as she sat up. "I don't like Kuchiha whatsoever and hope she ends up dying somewhere along the way. As horrible as it may sound."

"Aw, don't be that way! It would ruin the group dynamic if she died," Gwen laughed and hugged a stuffed animal to her chest. The thought of group dynamics and the trio of heroes they'd just watched made her somewhat sad. The thought of one of those characters dying and ruining the rest of the team made her think of Kevin. She hadn't thought about that in a while and her expression turned sour. Ben was probably still broken up about it, although he was most likely in Louisiana by then so she couldn't send a personal letter.

"What's wrong?"

She looked up into the worried eyes of her friend and smiled: "Nothing, I was just ... thinking."

"That's some thought you had, to give you a look like that," Ginny stood and sat next to her, shoving her a little with her shoulder. "Wanna talk about it?"

"My cousin ... I was just thinking how he must still be upset. My best friend, his boyfriend, died earlier this summer, and I haven't heard from him since I left to come here," Gwen sighed. "I guess I'm feeling a little guilty. I haven't even tried to contact him and he must be feeling so lonely."

"I didn't mean to bring up something painful, Gwen."

"No, it's not like that. I've accepted it, but Ben ... he doesn't see things the way I do. He's ..."

"A guy and probably difficult to understand," Ginny smiled. "It was his boyfriend, someone very close to him, and for such a person to be taken away ... trust me when I say it doesn't feel fair. He'll be upset for a long time, and probably really angry if you confront him about it. The only thing you can do for him is keep in touch and offer your ear."

Gwen snorted at the last part: ""Give him your ear" is what I heard. I don't think I can part with them so easily."

It earned her a playful punch in the arm and the pair laughed.

"Besides, it's only been a few days. He probably knows you're still trying to get everything organized."

Gwen gave her a funny look, causing the other girl to laugh again: "You don't know my cousin. He's like a human tornado and his room probably hasn't been cleaned since before the funeral. He probably hasn't even bathed."

"Golly, boys are so gross," Ginny giggled. "It's no wonder why you and I put them with each other."

Gwen only laughed more, pushing at the other girl playfully and silently vowing to call her cousin, at least send him an e-mail, later on.

-

The start of school slowly crept up, ready to pounce on the students in the dormitories. Another week passed, mostly uneventfully, and Gwen and Ginny received new neighbors. A set of twins moved in to the left of them, but didn't share all the same interests as the two redheads, one Korean girl moved in to the right who definitely enjoyed the same things Gwen and Ginny did, and a young man moved in across the hall but didn't seem to want anything to do with the girls.

The Korean girl, Pakki, as they were introduced to her ended up having a rather extensive collection of anime and, after she finished moving all of her belongings into her new semester home, they ended up staying awake the entire night, watching what she brought. They continued their conversations on who was best paired with who and which character was the most annoying or most useless.

All-in-all, not a bad way to start the semester.

Their ritual continued for days until, one night, when both Pakki and Ginny went off to the store to get food while Gwen stayed behind to organize their movies for the evening, something odd happened.

Everything started out normal, but just as the sun began to set Gwen heard the distinct sound of panicked people screaming. Her time spent with Ben and Kevin allowed her to react in only one manner: assume it was an alien attack and rush out with powers at the ready.

She left the dormitories in her nightgown, almost tripping over her slippers as she rushed down the stairs, and ended up on the side of the building. Ahead of her was an entire group of people, running around in panic, eyes wide and screams well-heard. Some had their cell phones out and were no doubt calling emergency services and campus police. It was a mad house and, as she rushed through the throng of people to make it in the center she definitely recognized what she was making her way towards. An enormous, mutated rat and upon it's back sat none other than Dr. Animo. She snarled under her breath, purposefully making her way towards him even as the giant creature lashed out with its massive whip-like tail, catching several students and no doubt breaking bones with the impact.

"Animo," she yelled as she neared, baring her powers proudly to show that she meant business. He barely glanced at her, instead turning his head in favor of getting his creation to attack more helpless people. She sent out a shockwave of violet energy, grounding most of the remaining students and stopping Dr. Animo and his rat before they could harm another person. "I assume your fight is with me! Leave the innocent people out of this!"

Animo turned, slowly, the goggles that sat on top of his head broken from the force of the shockwave: "My dear, you are mistaken. My fight is not with you. His is."

Confused, she looked past the rat's tail at the only other still figure in the crowd. The dark form was one she recognized and her heart seemed to stop. She knew that face, knew those eyes that now looked so angry and vengeful. The figure attacked, a silvery flash heading straight towards her chest which she barely deflected in time.

"Oh my ...," another projectile managed to hit her in her right biceps, tearing the muscle as easily as if it were paper and sending a spray of blood out into the night air. She dropped to one knee as Animo's creature attacked the injured students who were unable to get away. If she tried to save herself instead of them then they were as good as dead.

A lasso of energy went from her left arm and made its crooked way towards the rat's neck, winding around it. She grunted and managed to control the energy so that it pulled the beast away from the meal it was about to make just as two more of the figure's make-shift weapons buried in her gut.

She cried out in pain, but kept the noose around the rat's neck attempting to strangle it before it could do any more damage. She barely noticed the figure near her and felt the hand around the back of her neck too late.

Her thin body was easily lifted and tossed into one of the brick walls of her dormitory building. A stray brick popped loose from the force of the impact and dust fell around her as she choked.

Too soon the same hand grabbed her face and brought her body up, slamming her head against the wall. Fingers as cold and strong as steel gripped her skull, cracking it rather easily and all she could think of was Ben and the students left to defend themselves.

-

Only a few days after settling in Ben received a call on his cell phone. Gwen had been attacked on Harvard campus and was rendered comatose for an undetermined amount of time. Severe head trauma accompanied with massive internal hemorrhaging made her recovery slow and painful, even if she had been conscious, and his parents wanted him back home as soon as possible.

He said nothing, merely hung up the phone and glared out the window, back at the sewer entrance that taunted him. Someone, he figured, wasn't just going to pay. Someone was going to die.


End file.
